RV Summer
by djinni14
Summary: Summer vacation from school takes a very sudden and unexpected turn. However maybe they will all find just what they were looking for in the end. They say it's all about the journey. - NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 1_

Rick was standing out front, waiting for the bus to drop off his daughter. It was the last day of high school which meant they could start their annual summer vacation soon. He had initially been a little timid about the kind of summer vacation Alexis had talked him into years ago. His idea of a summer vacation was to fly there and rent a hotel room. She'd talked him into something else. It only took that very first summer and he was hooked. Now he was looking forward to it and this summer they had plans to go a little farther than usual.

The second he saw the school bus he began smiling. He was certain that Alexis was likely bouncing up and down in her seat. This summer was going to be different.

Alexis almost jumped out of the bus. "Hi, pumpkin!" Rick hugged her tightly and could feel her hug him back.

"Hi, Dad. Are we ready to go?" She was eager to get started.

"School's over and you're all set, I take it." He was certainly ready.

"All set. I can even take my backpack with me." She didn't have a reason to go into the house if her dad was ready.

"The last thing we have to do is to take a final look at our present RV and we can go. Make sure we didn't miss anything." Rick fished out the keys to show her and watched as she snatched them out of his hand.

"Let's go." Alexis headed toward the RV barn that fit the RV they presently had.

Their entire home consisted of three buildings. The main building was four stories high and used to be a mill, meaning it was next to a stream. Rick had spent money to have one of the buildings converted to an RV barn while the other building was an ordinary storage building. If you could call a building that could hold a car if you really tried and even had stairs up to a loft area for more storage a storage building.

In fact their main house was totally unique. Rick had wanted out of downtown New York City when she was really little which meant Alexis had grown up in this house. It had its pros and cons.

Pros were indoor space that consisted of wood and stone walls; outdoor space that was all two acres of land. The first floor was where the mill stone used to be. The stone itself was long gone and in its place was a woodworking shop. Alexis had learned that her dad was never going to be a master carpenter, but that didn't stop him from tinkering. Some of her favorite toys were the wooden ones that he'd had made for her when she was little.

It was also where the oil tank was that fed the heater that heated the entire house. The second floor was the game room. There was a pool table that doubled as the ping-pong table. A dart board, foosball table, ice hockey, poker table, shuffleboard, and even an indoor hoop game as well as a pair of old fashioned arcade games using pinballs.

The third floor was totally open and you could see all four sides easily. It held the kitchen, dining room, living room, and laundry area. Since it was totally open it also meant that there were no upper cabinets in the kitchen, though it was quite large so they weren't missed. There were two massive refrigerators that were installed side by side that opened in opposite directions. They were located on the outside wall.

The fourth floor at the start was also completely open. This floor was the three bedrooms and all of the full-size bathrooms. Instead of building walls Rick had settled for hanging curtains. At first they had been a little see through and as Alexis got older she had argued to have them changed out to something far less exposing.

Then there was the roof deck that held the grill, table, and even a small putting green that Rick never used. There were also a number of lights hanging on strings to light up the place.

In all areas there was exposed wood: exposed wood beams, wood ceiling, and wood floors. Stone walls and wooden windows.

Since it was two acres there was room to do all kinds of things. Also the stream had fish in it if you were willing to try and catch one. So far neither of them had shown any interest in that particular sport.

Cons were to get to any school, from elementary to high school, she either took the bus that at least stopped right out front or Rick had to drive her. Another was that there weren't many houses around them so they really didn't have any neighbors. Her only friends were the ones she made in school. If her friends came to her, their parents or Rick had to drive them here.

Still they both loved it.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/

Alexis was sitting in the navigation chair while Rick was driving the class A RV that they'd been using; it was time to trade up to something bigger. The primary problem with something bigger was that they chose it based on pictures and floor plan. They hadn't actually ever seen it with their own eyes.

"Turn left and we're there, Dad." They were close. They were trading this one in and then would look over the new one.

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"May I help you?" A salesman greeted them especially since they hadn't driven up to the service area.

"I'm Rick Castle and this is my daughter, Alexis." He was hoping that would be enough.

"The Castles." He had been hoping to meet them. It wasn't everyday that they sold an RV like this one. "Right this way. She showed up yesterday and we've spent that time getting her clean for you. We've also taken the time to attach the matching trailer that will go with it." He started walking and soon they could see it. It was hard to miss.

"A Prevost H3 Featherlite Vantaré. Red and gray coloring as you requested. A 450 HP diesel pusher with four slide outs, on the left and right side. You have five bays with doors on each side. This left side houses one for storage." He opened the door to show them. "It's a complete pass through. Press that yellow button for me." He pointed at the button and watched as Rick reached in to press it.

Instantly the front of the RV began to slide out. "COOL!" Alexis had been impressed with what she had read on this RV, but this was awesome.

"This is your generator. You can stand on it to clean those front windows. It's also hooked up to an inverter that's attached to your solar panels on the roof. It will allow you to dry camp for as long as you have food, clean water, and waste storage before you need to move on. On your roof is the automatic satellite dish. It will find and lock on to the satellite no matter where you are on the planet," he explained as Rick pressed the yellow button and the generator disappeared back into the RV.

He showed them what was behind the other four doors on this side, which included the outdoor kitchen area that had a small refrigerator, sink, and a grill. Next to it was the outdoor entertainment system that held the TV, radio, and speakers.

He took them back to the front door. "Your doorbell."

"Our old one didn't have a doorbell." Alexis still liked the little things she hadn't read anything about. Then he opened the door and the steps, allowing them to slide out. "Let me show you the canopy slide outs." He stepped just inside, pressed a button and out slid a canopy cover. "They are both integrated into the body." Once the first one was done he pressed the other button. "Each has two LED light bars, one at the RV and one at the edge of the canopy. You can turn on whichever one you want or turn them all off."

"They look long, too." Rick liked them since it meant they might not be trapped inside if it was raining on them. They at least extended out past the two slide outs.

"Ladies first." He moved outside and motioned for Alexis to enter.

Alexis went up the stairs, looked inside, and barely kept moving. "WOW, DAD!" She'd seen pictures but this was spectacular. Nothing like their old RV. Their old RV was really basic compared to this thing.

There was a dark gray captain's chair on the right side just behind her seat while Rick drove. Next came a table with a drawer and storage followed by another dark gray captain's chair. Across from that was a dark gray love seat.

"WOW!" Rick was right behind her and almost pushing her into the space to create room for him.

The salesman was right behind them. "The floors are tile in a red and dark gray crisscross pattern. No carpet in this space and the floors are heated. This is the driver's chair; neither of them swivel though those two captain's chairs do swivel 360 degrees. This screen is your GPS and this screen will show you all of the outdoor cameras. Here's the key; have a seat, and fire her up." He held out the key for Rick to take.

Rick sat down, turned the key, and watched as everything turned on. "These are all four cameras with the RV in the middle. If you want just one of the cameras to be shown on the screen you just touch that camera."

Alexis had a huge smile as she watched her dad press the one behind them and saw the screen fill up with what was behind them.

"Simply press the center of the screen to go back to the RV with all four views." The salesman watched Rick do just that. "Your GPS has all of the Untied States including Alaska and Hawaii should you ever find yourself in either location. You'll need to add Canada to reach Alaska, however. …Shut her down, please." They weren't going anywhere just yet anyway.

"Your cup holder in your right armrest has cooling and heating capabilities depending on what you're drinking. Directly behind your drivers seat the storage cabinet has been replaced with a mini refrigerator as requested." He lead Alexis deeper into the RV.

"The loveseat pulls out into a bed." He removed the seat covers, lifted out the bed, and set it in place. "It has an air mattress and comes complete with a built-in blower and a patch kit should you ever have a leak." He put the loveseat back together. The seats were leather while the backs were a mix of gray cloth.

"This is your L-shaped dinette. It also makes into a bed. Would you hand me that pad on the table between the captain's chairs, please?" He indicated what he needed and Alexis retrieved it for him.

"This is the master control that you can use to monitor practically everything on this RV. You can lower and raise the screens for all of the windows." He pressed a button and the screens on the side windows began to lower then went back up. "The dinette table is also motorized." He pressed another button and down went the table. He put the pad down and changed the dinette into a bed. Then he reversed everything.

"Also using this device you can lower the TV screen." He gestured at the front of the RV. They stood there watching with mouths hanging open as a huge TV screen came down from the ceiling, covering up a fair amount of the front windshield. "It's a 65-inch LED. You can only lower it when the RV's in park." Then it went back up.

"This unit can also be used to monitor the amount of fresh water you have, how full your waste storage is, and how many hours your generator has worked. It can turn on or off any or all of the lights." He did just that. "You can also turn on or off any of the three A/C units you have. The vents are integrated into the ceiling pattern so they are effectively invisible." He pointed at the red slots in the white ceiling that etched its way around the ceiling in three continuous lines that followed the open space of the ceiling.

"Your kitchen. Double bowl sink with built-in cutting boards, convection oven microwave combo, and not to be left out, your dishwasher." He pulled it out from the cabinet. "The woodwork is polished cherry. Your hidden residential style refrigerator has the same woodwork. It only works on electricity but with your inverter and solar panels you can dry camp as long as you wish. Provided that it doesn't rain the entire week," he joked.

"The panels here on the wall double some of the things your pad can do. Turn on exhaust fans, lower the dinette table, turn on or off lights. Oh and your pad can also extend the canopies outside as well as retract them.

"This is your pantry." He turned around, faced the dinette, and opened a red-colored wood door. Then he pulled out individual drawers all the way to show that they were really deep.

"Think it's enough?" Rick looked at Alexis. They'd seen this in pictures and debated if this one cabinet was going to be enough. "We eliminated the oven in favor of more storage on this side." Rick pointed to the space next to the dishwasher.

Alexis looked at it, the storage under the countertop, and the cabinets above the sink. It was all they had. "Maybe some of the space in your bedroom." He had a lot of space back there.

"We'll make it work." Rick was willing to give up a little of his space.

"Through this door." He opened a red paneled pocket door that separated the front of the RV from the back. "This is your bunk bed. As per your request only the upper bunk remains. The lower bunk is a closet." He opened doors and drawers. Then he pulled out the cherry wood ladder that allowed access to the upper bunk. "Give it a try." He looked at Alexis and they both watched as she climbed up and lay down.

"My TV!" She lowered it down into position that was about just above her stomach.

"It's connected to the satellite dish system as well as the DVD player. It also has a built-in DVD player so you can watch something else while your father's in his room watching what he wants to watch." She wasn't stuck arguing about what went into the DVD for the RV.

"COOL!" She didn't remember reading anything about that. She found that her decor was a match for the main RV, lots of red and white everywhere. She just needed sheets, a blanket, and pillows. "Hey." She found a net at her head and one at her feet.

"Those are meant to hold whatever you want. Magazines, books, whatever. You'll also note that you have a pair of USB plugs to charge various items. There are two more in the kitchen and two more at the table between the captain's chairs as well as two in the master bedroom." He'd forgotten about those.

Alexis climbed down so they could move on and pushed the ladder back into place.

"This is your lone bathroom with a shower. Having the bunk bed floor plan removed the second bathroom that was really a half bath." It meant they would have to share. It had also reduced the size of the pantry. The bathroom had a pocket door and just to the right was the toilet, in front of them was the sink, and to the left was the shower.

"You first, Dad, you're bigger than me." It looked like enough space to her. She saw a small shelf for her to put various tubes and jars and other items. There was storage below the sink and just to the right of the toilet was a small amount of space.

Rick stepped inside, taking up most of the empty space. Then he slid the shower door open and went inside. "At least it has a skylight." It was just above where part of his head would go when he showered. "Just like the other RV." It was going to be tight for him, but he was used to it. "It's enough."

"And the master bedroom." The salesman slid the pocket door open and went inside to get out of the way.

This room was different from the rest of the RV. It was all white with the same red A/C outlets in the ceiling. It was here that the tile floor ended and the beige carpeting began. There was a king size bed to the right with white cabinets all the way across the top. The bed had a red headboard.

"This is one of your hanging closets." The salesman was standing in front of it so he opened it for them to see. It had two drawers at the bottom. "If you would, please open that door behind you for me."

Rick opened the door and started to smile. Alexis smiled as well. "Full-size front loading washer and dryer. I know you asked for those."

"Yes, we did. This was a must have." When they had first started camping using a trailer it didn't have a washer and dryer so they'd had to use laundromats. Even the class A they had now didn't have these, mostly because it was a lot shorter than this rig. Alexis also didn't have her own bedroom space. She was sleeping on the dinette after it was folded down.

"You have more hanging storage across the back. There's a little storage below and to either side of the TV. And if you'll lift up the bed you'll find even more storage," the salesman told them.

Rick and Alexis lifted up his bed that was on hydraulic supports so it was easy. "I think we just fixed our dry storage problem, Dad." Alexis saw lots of space for cans and boxes of stuff.

"We can put your spare bedding in that closet and even bedding for the beds out front." He would make do with the storage across the back.

They had reached the end of the tour. "Questions?"

Rick and Alexis had read about everything else. They knew how much power the generator produced, how much gas it used, and how big a gas tank they had for it. How much diesel they could handle, how much potable water they had, how big their dump tank was. Even how much electricity their roof-mounted solar panels generated.

"Fuel dispenser?" Rick knew they had one and they still had to go through the matching trailer.

"Of course." He'd forgotten that part. He led them back outside, went to the left side of the RV, and continued to the very last door where he opened it. "This is your fuel dispenser for non-diesel fuel. You have a thirty gallon tank that can be filled here." Then he left that door open and moved forward a little. "This is one of your diesel tanks and this is the other one. You have two tanks. When you get a warning light that you're low on diesel you really will be low on diesel fuel. You can monitor how much is in each tank from the driver's seat as well as your control pad.

"Ready to go through your matching trailer?" Unless they wanted to go up the attached ladder to walk the roof, it was all that was left.

It was just a trailer that had a dual axle but Rick wanted to see it.

"There are two doors. This is your main door located on the right side." He opened it and let them go inside. "If you leave it connected to the RV you can use electricity from the solar panels; otherwise you will be using battery power."

It was mostly an open bay trailer that didn't look like anything special. There were a number of drawers and doors at the front. "You have a few drawers and doors to put tools and maybe spare propane bottles inside." He began opening them one at a time.

"On the floor are the channels for you to secure whatever you decide to put in here. If your car is small enough you can store a car along with a pair of motorcycles and maybe even a quad. You have the same channels across the ceiling for you to hang things like bicycles. There are also hooks so you can secure things like gas cans, for example. Cabinets to put oil in, drawers to put tools in along with space for spare parts. The trailer has a brake system that's attached to the RV at the hitch. When you brake so does the trailer. Just be careful going down those steep hills." He didn't want to see them racing down a steep hill and then using one of those emergency runoffs meant for eighteen wheelers who have lost their brakes. That would be bad.

"Did I miss anything?" He couldn't think of anything. "Oh, the door to drive a car in or quads or motorcycles." He folded down the ramp the took up the entire back of the trailer.

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It had taken them a total of three hours to get rid of their used class A RV, buy a new one, and hit the road for home. They discovered that the potable water tanks and all of the fuel tanks were already full, thanks to the dealership. They just had to get home, get some sleep, and start loading it with everything they needed.

After that they would head for the dealership where they were going to get a new car that would fit inside their new trailer. It had taken a fair amount of research and debate before they finally decided on one. They didn't have any quads and for this summer didn't have any plans to add them. Those remained in the future for now.

"Night, pumpkin." Rick kissed her forehead and headed for his bed.

"Night, Dad." Alexis was sure she wasn't going to get any sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a really big and very busy day. They had a lot to do before they could begin their summer vacation.


	2. Chapter 2

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 2_

The first task come morning and after breakfast was getting everything they had taken out of their old RV into the new RV. The two of them passed each other during countless trips. Bed sheets, pillows, blankets, plates, glasses, silverware, pots, pans, kitchen utensils, strainers, small kitchen appliances, cans of food, food that was dry storage, maps, and clothes for every possible instance.

They stopped for lunch and then finally dinner. "We've got a problem, Dad." They didn't need to solve it now since they would be gone, but when they got back they were going to have a problem.

Rick offered his first guess. "One of the tires is flat already?" He was in the _what could go wrong_ mode and wasn't thinking. Alexis shook her head. It wasn't raining, thank God, so there couldn't possibly be a leak already. "We need to do a load of laundry first?" Maybe they could test out the new set on the RV after they plugged the RV into power and water.

Alexis shook her head again. "The new one's too big for the barn." Their old RV fit perfectly. The new one was too long.

"Seriously?" Rick hadn't thought to look or measure. She nodded. "Well crap!" It meant either a new RV barn or remodel the one they had to make the new one fit. "It can wait until we get back. …We need to shut down the house tomorrow." He meant turn off the water and drain the pipes. They were going to leave the power on.

"I know and lock up the house tight. We need to get everything off the roof tomorrow, too." They didn't need for a storm to blast through and blow everything or anything off the roof.

"I'll handle that while you keep loading the RV. We've got one more thing to discuss, though." Rick got up, retrieved the information he'd printed out, and put the three of them on the table. "We need to chose what car to buy. Here are the three options I've cut it down to. They'll all fit in the trailer but each is a slightly different size. Say we want to get quads in the future we can't get this car." Rick put his finger on that one. "We have room for the spare tires that we also need to get along with fill the gas cans, buy oil, oil filters, spark plugs, air filters–" Alexis held up her hand, getting him to stop.

"Why do we need all that stuff?" Tires and gas cans she could see, but why the other stuff?

"We plan on making it to the Grand Canyon this year. That means traveling through the desert. What if we have a dust storm? A flat tire when we stop in the middle of nowhere? The car or maybe our bikes might be all we have to get help." Rick was overthinking it but he wanted to be prepared.

"Dad!" Alexis needed to reel him in before he filled the trailer with all kinds of stuff they didn't need. "Tires and gas only, forget the rest of that stuff."

"But…" Rick watched her shake her head and he groaned. She was destroying his plan.

"Even the smallest town has someone that can change tires, change the oil, and do all that other stuff." Alexis kept shaking her head and moved the pages closer to her so she could look over what had her dad selected as the three to choose from. She was concerned that he had chosen something really stupid.

"A Smart Fourtwo, a Mini, and a Fiat 500." She was actually impressed. She had feared something far worse. A whole lot worse.

Alexis started with the Smart Fourtwo, began reading and looking at the pictures. "No backseat, no place for groceries, no place to put anything but us. We have to use one of our smart phones to get a backup camera or GPS?" She hated it; she pushed it to one side and pulled the next one down to her.

"The Fiat 500." It was barely bigger than the Smart Fourtwo. It had a backseat…sort of. It was even uglier than the Smart Fourtwo and that was saying something. "This one doesn't come with a spare tire, either. You have to call their service for a flat tire let alone a shredded one." She sighed. So far she was seeing problems.

Alexis laid it to the other side. The Smart Fourtwo was dead; this one was still alive for now.

"A Mini." She had seen these on the road before and some of them looked really nice.

"There's a problem with this car." Rick beat her to it. "Unless we buy one that's on the lot it can take months to design our own and have it built."

Alexis looked it over. "It has the same tire problem." All three had the same issue: no spare tire in the car. Not even those tiny emergency donuts. She sat back and thought about it. She was also trying to think of other cars that were also small. She was betting that every small car would come without a spare tire of any kind. She made a decision but she had a question for him. "Can we get a Mini that's a convertible?" If they were going to use the car to go see things, she wanted to be able to see those things.

Rick hadn't expected that question. "It'll have your long hair flying all over the place." Alexis still had beautiful, long, orange-colored hair. A convertible would have it flying all over.

She had one answer for him. "A French braid. I'll let you do the braiding." She smiled. Her dad was really good at it and had been doing it to her hair since she was little.

Rick was actually happy. "One new or used Mini convertible it is then. Just don't be too picky over the color, we may not have much to choose from."

Alexis smiled, her eyes bright with excitement. "I promise. When do we go get it?" What was his plan for all this?

"Tomorrow after we load everything. We stop and get the car, stop and get tires for the car, RV, and trailer, then stop and fill the gas cans. After that we can head for our first destination. Stop on the side somewhere if we have to. …Where are we going?" Rick was beyond curious.

"Uh-uh, Dad. I'm not telling and no peeking! I broke down and am willing to give you an address to plug into the GPS instead of me using the map like usual, but I'm not talking." Rick had let her plan this trip so their primary stops were up to her.

"Promise me. Pinky promise." Alexis held out her pinky for him to link his with. She heard him groan but he started to put his pinky finger out. "Show me your other hand." She'd learned that he would cross his fingers on his other hand and claim that that countered his pinky promise. That had him groaning even louder as Alexis waited impatiently. Finally after seeing both hands he linked his pinky with hers.

"Remember your promise." She would find a way to make him pay if he didn't.

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They ended up in Darien, CT. A whole 34 miles away.

**British Racing Green Metallic 2019 MINI Cooper** _FWD 6-Speed Automatic with Steptronic 1.5L 12V TwinPower Turbo 27/35 City/Highway MPG_

_Additional Information_

_Wheels: 15" x 5.5" Heli Spoke Silver, Front Bucket Seats, SensaTec Leatherette Upholstery, AM/FM Stereo, Iconic Trim, LED Fog Lights, MINI Yours Leather Steering Wheel, Chrome Line Exterior, Body Color Mirror Caps, Auto-Dimming Interior & Exterior Mirrors, MINI Excitement Package, Front Center Armrest w/Storage, Exterior Parking Camera Rear, Smart device integration: MINI Connected, 4-Wheel Disc Brakes, 6 Speakers, Air Conditioning, Electronic Stability Control, Rear Parking Sensors, Tachometer, ABS brakes, AM/FM radio, Brake assist, Bumpers: body-color, Convertible roof lining, Delay-off headlights, Driver door bin, Driver vanity mirror, Dual front impact airbags, Dual front side impact airbags, Emergency communication system, Four wheel independent suspension, Front anti-roll bar, Front reading lights, Fully automatic headlights, Glass rear window, Heated door mirrors, Illuminated entry, Integrated roll-over protection, Knee airbag, Leather steering wheel, Low tire pressure warning, Occupant sensing airbag, Outside temperature display, Overhead console, Passenger door bin, Passenger vanity mirror, Power convertible roof, Power door mirrors, Power steering, Power windows, Radio data system, Rain sensing wipers, Rear anti-roll bar, Rear window defroster, Rear window wiper, Remote keyless entry, Speed control, Speed-sensing steering, Split folding rear seat, Sport steering wheel, Steering wheel mounted audio controls, Telescoping steering wheel, Tilt steering wheel, Traction control, Trip computer, Variably intermittent wipers, Speed-Sensitive Wipers_

Purchasing car insurance online was easy, however getting a license plate that was going to last all summer was the next problem. Unbeknownst to Rick, Alexis had already taken care of that problem. They just needed to make it to the city that had the P.O. Box she had already arranged for. "That'll work," they were assured.

Now with the Mini Cooper in the trailer with its temporary plate they needed tires for it, the RV, and the trailer. Then gas and they could get moving.

After their salesman was informed of their plan he was jealous. "Maybe I can talk my wife into it." He didn't have the money to get what Rick had but there were smaller trailers that cost a lot less that his truck could pull.

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"Ready for the address?" Alexis was sitting in her chair up front and had her book of everywhere they were going to go in her lap along with a number of spots along the way including a few alternates if she had to use them.

"All set, let's have it." Rick's finger hovered over the GPS's screen.

"74 NY-149, Lake George, New York." It was her first stop on her list.

"One hour thirty-five minutes. You're not taking us very far today." Rick was a little shocked.

"I planed ahead, Dad. We've already spent half the day getting the car and the tires and gas." Alexis had taken all that into account early on.

"So what does this place have?" Rick was curious as he pulled out of the gas station and got ready to turn where the GPS told him to do.

"It has a fitness center, a 2-acre off-leash dog park, indoor and outdoor heated pools, a fishing pond, recreation courses, playgrounds, arcades, movie rooms, and a playhouse that hosts live entertainment," Alexis explained as she read from her book.

"No casino?" Rick was a little disappointed and pouted for effect.

"Not today." That had Rick looking at her; he forgot to turn when he had an opening so he had to wait for the next opening. Was she teasing him or were they really going to stop at a casino along the way?

"Drive, Dad." He had a nice really big opening to turn into.

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"Lake George RV Park." Rick read the sign as he pulled into the area and stopped at the reservations building. "You're sure we haven't been here before?" It was so close to home they had to have come here at least once by now.

"Not unless you came here with someone else. …Gina maybe." Alexis couldn't help but tease him.

"Please don't say her name during this trip. I deal with her enough as it is." Rick was on summer vacation and while he might write some since he couldn't help himself, he didn't want to talk about Gina or hear from Gina. "Let's find our spot."

They came back out with a map of where their space was for the next three days and two nights. He had a brochure about all that was offered there as well as a bundle of firewood for the fire pit that came with their site in addition to a picnic table.

"There." Alexis was counting as they went. "We get a pass through just like the map says."

It allowed Rick to pull right in and went so far in that he was almost sticking out the front and then soon found that the trailer was sticking out by about a foot or so. "Good enough." He didn't see the need to move six inches or more.

Alexis picked up the pad and pressed the buttons to extend the slide outs followed by the canopies. Rick took the time to get out a pair of chairs while Alexis used the pad to level out the RV using the automatic jack system. Then he plugged them into the water and power and the cable TV outlets.

"Are we cooking inside or outside?" Rick asked her after she came outside.

"Outside. If you want to grill instead you need to get out the grill while I look for the propane bottles." Alexis answered his question which was basically, you choose.

"Grill, it is." Rick started opening up doors while Alexis went in search of the tiny propane bottles that went with it. The grill was small since there was only the two of them. They didn't need anything bigger.

Rick was soon grilling simple burgers while Alexis was reading the brochure. "They have a doggie park!" She rubbed it in since he had once offered to get her a pony but refused to get her a dog.

"We talked about this," Rick said mildly as he flipped the burgers.

"We have space, Dad. At home and in the RV now. This one is 20 feet bigger than our old one." Alexis was more than willing to fight that fight again now that things had changed.

"A Chihuahua is not a dog, Alexis." It was a big rat with a big mouth as far as he was concerned.

She huffed an annoyed breath. "I don't want a Chihuahua. I want a real dog. A Labrador or a Collie maybe. Something big." Alexis knew there were tiny breeds but those weren't dogs to her.

Rick countered back. "Too much hair."

"Labradors don't have that much hair so no brushing is involved and Collies come in the smooth hair type so their hair is just as short," Alexis retorted. "A Poodle or Labradoodle maybe."

"A _what_ oodle?" Rick inquired.

"Half Poodle, half Labrador. Labradoodle." What she hadn't told him yet was that they were stopping at a breeder she had found that had puppies for sale. They were getting a puppy, he just didn't know it yet.

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Rick started the fire in the fire pit using the wood they'd bought while Alexis went in search of the marshmallows.

She found the sweet treats and handed the bag to him. He put two on a long skewer, toasting them to a golden brown as he spoke to her. "What's on the list for tomorrow and don't say dog park. We don't have a dog." He didn't want to hear it.

Alexis kept the _not yet__, D__ad _to herself. "There's tennis, pools, pool tables, and a fitness center. You're getting a little chubby." He didn't want a dog so she was going to razz him until he caved in.

"Funny." Rick glared at her which Alexis ignored as usual.

"A pond with paddle boats and there are bike trails. We could get the bikes out. Oh and there's a small cafe that probably has sandwiches and chips if you don't want to cook tomorrow." Alexis had done her reading.

"Bike riding to the sandwich shop sounds good." He was willing to do that.

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"'Night, Dad." She watched him open the door to his big bedroom and his big bed.

"Night, pumpkin. Try and keep the sound down." She had the massive 65-inch LED TV down and was watching a movie he really wasn't interested in. Unfortunately he had an idea buzzing around in his head and had plans on pulling out his laptop so he could get it out and into a text document.

Alexis let her movie end then turned it off and put it back up, using the pad to lower all of the curtains and turn off all the lights which she quickly found was not the best idea. They weren't just curtains, they were blackout curtains. Thankfully the pad was backlit so back on came one light until she closed the pocket door behind her. She got dressed for bed then went into the bathroom to start her nightly routine. She was young and had beautiful skin; she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. That and use the toilet.

She found a light control in her bed area after climbing up so used that light for now. She couldn't resist checking out her own personal TV so she turned it on and pulled down the screen. It landed just above her stomach so the screen was nice and close as were the speakers. "This is so cool." It was so much better than sleeping on the dinette in their old RV.

Alexis turned off the TV and the light, fluffed her pillow, and turned over. In just a few minutes she drifted off to sleep.

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After breakfast Rick got down the mountain bikes while Alexis checked the pressure of her tires. Having a trailer was already proving to be a great thing to have. The bikes were easy to access and the pump for low tires was also easier to reach. Hers was a light blue Roadmaster Grainte Peak Mountain Bike with 24-inch wheels. Rick's was a black Mongoose Xr-pro, 29-inch wheels with 24 speeds.

They were located in Circle Drive in space number 304. Just to get to their space they had seen the tennis courts, volley ball court, and the baseball diamond.

"Maybe I should take up baseball; what do you think, Dad?" They peddled past it as they traveled down Circle Drive.

"You'll be great at anything you put your mind to." Rick was totally amazed at just how dedicated she was to school and learning new things. Her most recent addition had been violin classes. He had taken up fencing while she was out of the house.

"More firewood." Alexis pointed out the building that looked like it was holding lots of cords of wood as they turned left and went up Circle Drive.

They rode past the main office and continued the route they had taken to reach their site until they found the start of the bike trail. The trail was heavily wooded and initially was big on S's. Then they hit a T in the trail. "Left or fight?" Rick didn't care which.

Alexis thought for a moment. "Left, it looks like there's a lake that way," she decided and they began peddling.

They quickly saw a large pond to their right and trees to the left. Then they came to another T and a small building that looked like a bus stop, only bigger.

Alexis read what was on the side of the building. "It says it's a trolley stop and that this pond is bass fishing pond. It even has a fountain in the middle. There's a map. There's another pond to the left. It says it has paddle boats."

"Left it is." Not because he wanted out on the water in a paddle boat but because it was a pond.

They ended up going all the way around that pond and back the way they came until they reached the trolley stop and finally saw a trolley that was stopped at it. It went back the way they had just come so they went left and went around the fishing pond.

This route went through trees on both sides and just kept going and going and going until it ended and they were back on a black top road. "I'm lost, Dad." She had no idea where they were.

"Go right first. If we don't see anything we go back the way we came," Rick suggested.

"Children's playground." Alexis saw signs of life. Then she saw RVs that were much smaller than theirs.

"Civilization!" Rick thought they were saved and it had Alexis grinning.

A left turn down a path and they saw the main building in the distance in front of them. They went past it again and went down past the pools.

"I think that's the cafe," Alexis said since it was close enough to lunch.

_Soft serve ice cream, a large selection of hard ice cream, milkshakes and sundaes, fresh baked cookies and muffins, nachos, cappuccino and coffee as well as a wide variety of soft drinks and a selection of sandwiches with chips._

"Ooo, ice cream." Both of them smiled since they were both addicted to the stuff.


	3. Chapter 3

**RV Summer**

**_Once again - Guests who don't like what they read should stop reading and stop talking!_**

_Chapter 3_

They'd spent the next day in the pool and even went into the closest town using the car just to see it. It was officially the third day of their trip.

Alexis gave him the address of the next stop but said nothing else. "New Hampshire?" Rick knew it was a state but he wasn't sure what was in it. He wasn't overly surprised that they were going north. Last year they'd gone south and had made it as far as New Orleans before turning around and racing for home so that Alexis didn't miss her first day of school.

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They came to the address and Rick was even more confused. The road they were on was dirt and gravel and suddenly they reached the address except neither of them saw a whole lot.

"You're sure this is right?" Rick stopped and killed the engine but was looking around.

"It looks right to me." Alexis knew something he didn't so she got up, opened the door and got out, and started up the long driveway. Hearing her dad mumbling behind her told her he was following. This was going to take a lot; she knew that but she was hoping it would work out.

Alexis was in the lead and Rick was letting her. She pressed the doorbell and waited.

"Hi, I'm Alexis Castle. Are you Lisa Ward? We talked earlier." That had Rick's eyes opening wide though he held his tongue.

"Right this way." She came out and took them around to the back of the house. It was then that Rick knew he was being played and just what this place was.

"Honey, can you bring Dixie," Lisa called to her daughter who stepped into a pen, picked up a puppy, and walked over to her mother. Lisa began to tell them most everything about the puppy. "She's nine weeks old and ready for a new home. She's had her first set of shots and all the puppies have been played with by both of my daughters so they're comfortable with people. Her next set of shots are due in 4 weeks. As I told you over the phone she's sable in color."

"A puppy." Rick should have known but his daughter had clearly been planning behind his back.

Alexis took the puppy and pressed her into her dad. "Look at that face, Dad. How can you resist that?" Alexis cooed at him as she cuddled the puppy, falling in love instantly.

Rick had a question. "What kind of dog is it?"

"Collie," Lisa stated matter-of-factly.

"Hair," Rick said flatly. He wasn't sure he was onboard with this plan and was beginning think he didn't have any say in this.

Lisa went through the standard traits of a Collie. "Dixie's what is called a Rough Collie. Long hair on the outside that will require brushing and a downy layer of hair underneath. It's this downy layer that keeps them cool and warm at the same time. Collies are very friendly and are totally a family dog. They love children of all ages. They have very few inherited unwanted traits like stomach problems or arthritis or eye problems that other breeds of dogs have. They aren't guard dogs though they are good watch dogs.

"Dixie's parents are champion show dogs. Dixie doesn't have the coloration that would make her a champion show dog. That's why she's available. That doesn't mean she is or will be ugly. But to be a champion show dog you need to be perfect." Dixie was still going to be lovely dog who would make a great pet.

"Dad?" Alexis did need his approval but she would pull every shot she had to get what she wanted. "She's a lot smaller than the pony you offered me."

Rick knew he was in trouble and had he thought just one card to play. "How much?"

"One thousand dollars. You get her paperwork, two cans of food and a bag of dry food so you can mix it with what you buy so you can try and prevent diarrhea, as well as a collar and some coupons for dog food," Lisa said.

"You can take it out of my allowance," Alexis told him. Rick knew at that moment he was done. Her allowance would easily pay for the puppy in no time. Certainly before the summer was over.

"How big will she get?" He had one more fear that he could play.

"Most of our dogs when full grown average between 50 and 55 pounds for females. The males can be up to 75 pounds though the average is less but more than the females," Lisa quickly answered.

She could easily see the girl wanted this puppy and had done her research and had contacted her on her own. She had seen the RV park out on the road and that told her the dad had money so Dixie wasn't going to want for anything.

"And when she pees inside the RV?" Rick questioned Alexis.

"I'll clean it up. And when she poops inside the RV I'll clean that up too. I'll make sure she has puppy food available as well as water. We can stop and get her a different collar, a leash, dog food, dog bed, dog toys, and chew toys." He could take that out of her allowance as well.

"What about when she cries all night because she misses her mother?" Rick played his last card he thought he had.

"Not going to happen since she's sleeping with me in my bed," Alexis responded.

"What will you do when she falls out of your bed?" Her bunk was high off the floor.

"It has a barrier to prevent that," Alexis replied. It did actually except for where her feet were so she could climb into bed. But she left that part out.

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Rick was listening to the GPS unit take him to the next address Alexis gave him while she sat there with her puppy in her lap who simply wanted to play with her.

He should have known better but was a little surprised when the address turned out to be the closest pet store so they could buy what they needed for a new puppy. True to Lisa's word they had 2 cans and a bag of dry dog food that she had been using. They were free to buy what they wanted.

Alexis was carrying the puppy from the far edge of the parking lot where Rick could park and get back out of into the store with Rick right behind her.

"Not that dog food, Dad." He had put the first one he had come across in the cart. "This way." She saw the name of the food she wanted.

"And why this one instead of that one?" Rick was curious. Besides this one costing more, dog food was dog food, he thought.

"Ingredients. She's not eating crap, she's eating the good stuff." Alexis had done her research and this food had real food in it and not a lot of crap she shouldn't be eating.

Rick was soon pushing a cart full of stuff out to the RV and Alexis was out in front with her puppy. While he took it inside the RV and looked for a place to put it all with the slide outs all in, Alexis was in the grass allowing Dixie to pee and hopefully poop.

"Happy now?" Rick asked her as she put Dixie on the floor between them in her doggie bed and picked up her binder for their next stop.

"Thanks, Dad, you're the best. Isn't he, Dixie," she crooned. Dixie for her part wanted out of her bed and in Alexis's lap.

"13190 Patterson St. NW, North Lawrence, Ohio, is next." Alexis waited until he started driving to put her book away and pick up Dixie who wanted up badly.

"Hi, Dixie. You're going to love this." She was going to get to see parts of the country they did over the next few months. Dixie wasn't interested in loving where they were going. She wanted to know where she was now.

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They were on Interstate 90 headed west toward Rochester when they hit a major construction zone that slowed them to a crawl and then stopped, only to crawl a little more until they finally got to keep going, but very slowly. It cleared up only for them to come upon yet another one just as bad.

"The GPS said it was going to take us 8 hours. We aren't going to make that now, we really aren't." It was getting darker and they weren't even close.

That had Alexis putting Dixie down and pulling out her book.

"5374 Canandaigua Farmington Town Line Road, Farmington, New York. It's a KOA campground that has 100 feet pull throughs and a dog park, mini golf, pool, free Wi-Fi, firewood, and snack bar," Alexis said.

"Mini golf!" Rick was sold. That made Alexis smile since she should've know he would like that part.

"Thought you might like that. I look forward to moping the floor with you." Alexis grinned at him.

"Challenge accepted, daughter of mine. You are so going down." Rick had no intention of losing.

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Way up front were horseshoes, shuffleboard, a children's playground, pool, and then the office. They were assigned space number 25 and given a map on how to get there.

"At least they didn't give us number 27," Alexis noted as they turned past it. Getting into that space on the route they had taken was far too tight of a turn. "There, Dad." It was the first open space after a small drive area and it was a drive through.

Since they each had tasks with the addition of getting Dixie to stay in the RV, they plugged in and leveled the RV and extended the slides. Then Alexis took Dixie out while Rick started cooking dinner before it rained on them because it looked like it was going to and it smelled like it was.

"Dixie did her duty,"Alexis announced and searched for where her dad had put everything. Soon Dixie was digging into her puppy food with reckless abandon.

"Somebody's hungry." Alexis smiled. "Admit it, Dad, you like Dixie. She's so much better than a pony."

"We still need to find a vet eventually for her next shots," Rick told her and heard her squeal and start hugging him. He liked it but it also had him replaying what he had just said. Then it hit him he had just accepted that they were going to keep the dog.

"Already planned for, Dad. Already planned." They didn't need a specific vet, just any vet and the paperwork they had. She had lists of vets between here and where they stopped last before returning home and even after they got home.

Rick began shaking his head. She had played him expertly. Part of him was pissed at himself and part of him was even more proud of her. He even adored the kiss to his cheek she gave him before she started helping him with dinner.

They watched a movie on the big TV and listened to it rain cats and dogs on them.

"Good night, pumpkin, I love you." No matter what she did he would always love her. He would even help her hide the body if it came to that.

"'Night, Dad, love you, too." Alexis stroked the sleeping puppy in her lap.

Alexis closed up the RV, shut the sliding door, and put Dixie in her bed. Then she stripped down and changed into her sleepwear before going into the bathroom to do her routine. She had basically taken over all the shelf space with her lotions and stuff. Her dad hadn't said a thing.

"Here I come, Dixie." Alexis climbed up and found her right where she had left her. She worked at putting her between her and the outside wall so that she didn't find a way to go over the side by accident. "'Night, Dixie." Alexis kissed her head and tried to relax and go to sleep.

The day had gone just like she'd hoped it would. She had a puppy and her dad had accepted her. Life couldn't be better especially since they were on their summer vacation that she had also talked him into.

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Alexis quickly found out what her win meant for her when she woke up to Dixie licking her face. "What are you doing, Dixie? Go back to sleep." Dixie wasn't listening and kept licking.

"Okay, I'm awake, I'm awake." Alexis turned to look at her and get her off her. "Uh-oh." Alexis had done research on puppies. The second they woke up they needed to pee.

"Hold it, hold it." Alexis needed some sweats to change into first followed by her flip flops. Then she picked up Dixie who was looking over the barrier between her and her new best buddy.

"SHIT! It's still raining." That had her searching for an umbrella that she knew was in there somewhere while carrying Dixie and hoping the pup could keep holding it.

"Okay, Dixie, go potty." Dixie was right at her feet under the umbrella. "Go potty! Before both of us are soaked." Alexis watched her walk around her, finding the border between being dry and being wet. Then she squatted and peed.

"GOOD GIRL! You went potty." Alexis picked her up, lavished her with kisses, and got licked in return. "Let's go back inside." Alexis had left the door open since she had barely moved.

Alexis put her down and went back to shake the umbrella dry, then closed the door. "You want breakfast?" Alexis found the puppy food bag, scooped some out, put it down, and watched Dixie eat it like she was never going to get anymore ever again.

"Happy?" Alexis saw her arch her back. "NO! No, no, no." She had already forgotten rule number 2 or in this case poop number 2 after eating.

Back outside they went and since she had already started Dixie arched her back and pooped and then sat there since moving meant getting wet and that was out.

Alexis fished out a baggie, picked it up, turned the bag inside out and then tied it tight to lock in the smell. Dixie was too small for the steps so she got picked up again and inside they went. Alexis put her down, shook out the umbrella and closed the door, then turned to find her drinking from the water bowl.

"You better hold that or we're both going to drown," Alexis said to her and decided that since she was up she might as well stay up and use the shower first before her dad woke up.

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Rick slowly blinked. He was awake, just barely. He began stretching and felt a few pops. "OW," he complained even if it didn't hurt since it sounded like it should. Then he noticed something else. "Do I smell coffee?" He sniffed a couple more times to make sure.

He was up like a shot and put on a robe. He opened his pocket door and saw the other one already open which told him Alexis was already awake and it also reinforced the smell of coffee. He knew it was for him since Alexis didn't drink coffee. For some reason his Castle genes for the love of coffee didn't extend to his daughter. She hated coffee and almost hated the smell of it.

Stepping to her door he found her sitting on the floor fully dressed for the day and playing with Dixie. It looked like she was trying to teach her to play tug of war with a stuffed toy.

He was never going to admit it, but it looked sweet. "I smell coffee," Rick announced and headed for the coffee maker.

"I thought that would get you up. We've been up for an hour already. You're getting old, Dad." Alexis hid her smile by hiding behind Dixie.

"Very funny." Rick still loved her as he poured himself a cup. "Did you leave me any hot water?" That had been a problem with their old RV.

"I tried. This water heater is bigger and we're connected so it should be fine." Alexis was already loving this new RV. She was sitting on a tile floor instead of carpet and it was gorgeous.

Rick took his coffee with him and closed her pocket door behind him. He went into his bedroom to strip and then into the bathroom to take a shower. He found this shower was just like the old one: a bit of a tight fit but workable since he had a method.

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Rick didn't see Alexis or the dog when he came back out dry and dressed. This place was basically an emergency stop in route to their actual destination so after some breakfast he would be ready to go.

Looking out all of the windows he still didn't see either of them but was sure Alexis could take care of herself so he started work on breakfast.

The bacon was done and he was just starting to crack some eggs when Alexis stepped inside. She put the dog down and unhooked the leash. They both watched Dixie race to her water bowl and start drinking and drinking.

"I had cereal earlier so that's all yours." Alexis sat down in her seat so that she could look through her binder, noting just where they were and where they wanted to go.

That had Rick putting most of the eggs back and cooking only what he wanted.

Startled, Alexis found a small plate with a few strips of bacon being placed in her lap. "I had a few extra so those are yours. Use your pad and button us up and we can get started after you give me that address again." His GPS had lost it after being shut down.

"13190 Patterson St NW, North Lawrence, Ohio," Alexis said and began pressing buttons to pull in the slides, raise the leveling jacks, followed by Rick putting it into gear.

Listening to the GPS they were soon back on the Interstate.

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After a quick stop for fuel, just because they could even if they didn't need to and Rick had spotted where they were going. **Clays Park Resort**

Alexis picked up her binder. "Clays Park Resort has 500 acres in total: a 10 acre water park with slides, 18 hole miniature golf, lake fishing that's free to use, country store, restaurant and pub–" Rick interrupted her.

"A pub?" He was sold. Alexis rolled her eyes, not that he could see her doing it.

"Heated indoor pool, 150 foot water slides, rings swings, dual zip lines, barrel roll, splash pad, kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddle boards, volleyball courts, basketball court, full size foosball, whatever that is. Should be fun." Alexis put it away when Rick stopped at the rental office and she hooked up Dixie to take with her.

They were told dogs were allowed but only when on a leash. Alexis already knew they didn't have a doggie park but that was fine, she was just a puppy.

It was really big and they were given a map to find their space and soon found that there was a large lake that was dead center of the place that had the water park. They found themselves on the very far side. About as far away from the water park as they could get.

"We have bikes, Dad." They didn't have to walk it and the bikes had locks.

It was another drive through and they just barely fit. "Excellent planning so far, pumpkin." Because of their size there were a lot of state parks that wouldn't accept them now unlike their old RV that was more than short enough. So it would be mostly commercial RV parks now. Not that it was a bad thing.

"They say not to eat and swim, so eat now and swim later or swim now and eat later?" Rick asked her knowing what he wanted to do.

"Swim now, of course. Right after I let Dixie out so she can do her business." Alexis started to pick her up. "Right after I feed her." If she ate she would poop and if she drank she would pee, so she needed to do all four, then they could go.

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The second Rick saw the slides an excited, "Ooo," slipped out. He sped up his walking to reach them. Alexis did as well for the same reason.

They climbed up the hill and then climbed up the stairs until they got in line. Since Rick was in front of her he got to go first. Rick did as he was told and then lifted his arms way up in the air and screamed all the way down until he hit the water of the lake.

Alexis loved him greatly. She had already learned that her dad could sometimes be a kid that was far younger than she was. However she had also learned that he knew how to have fun and wasn't afraid to show that he was having a lot of fun.

Alexis did as she was told; raised her arms and screamed all the way down until she hit the water. She swam to shore and ran up the hill to catch up to her dad and they did it all over again. Over and over again until it was time for something else.

Alexis had always been self-conscious about wearing a bikini because she was small busted. She was sixteen years old and was an A cup. As self-conscious as she was about her bust size, today was different. She was having far too much fun to even notice.

The zip lines came next. Alexis was still in a bikini much like the other women and girls. She waited in line behind her dad and was hooked up into a harness, told to just hang on, and jumped like her dad had done. Like her dad she spread her arms and legs wide and screamed the entire way.

Once they reached the end they both walked their way back to the beginning so they could do it all over yet again. "How long are we here again?" Rick thought he knew the answer but he was having too much fun and nine year olds didn't have good memories.

"One week, Dad. One whole week." Alexis had planned ahead and right now she was glad she had.


	4. Chapter 4

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 4_

Rick and Alexis had had a blast. They'd spent the entire week at the water park and now they were starting to look like prunes or at least parts of them had enough wrinkles to make them think they were.

"We need to stop at a grocery store first, but what's next?" Rick had the RV all ready. The slides were in, the levelers were up and the engine was running.

"We need to stop at the dump station on our way out." They had space left but might as well do it now instead of worrying about it.

Alexis gave him the next address. "5505 Charlevoix Ave, Petoskey, Michigan." If need be she could look up the address of a grocery store, however they were both hoping for one along the way.

"Seven hours, it says, provided we don't have another one of those delays like last time." It was going to be a day of driving it was looking like.

They hadn't even made it to Interstate 90 before they ran into the first construction zone. Rick grumbled and Alexis just sat there since there really wasn't anything else they could do but wait their turn. She could look something up since they weren't moving. "Take the next exit if you want, Dad."

"Will it get us around this?" He was a little hopeful.

"No, but it will take us to a grocery store." It was the next best thing.

It still took them almost an hour to reach it. "Leave the dog and let's fill everything up."

"Her name is Dixie. It's not that difficult to remember." Alexis left him behind and strode into the grocery store, her irritation with him evident.

Rick stood there, hanging his head. He was being an ass and he really didn't know why. It was his daughter's dog and he really needed to get used to that. With his head still hung low he followed her into the grocery store.

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"No dog food?" They had most everything else for them but nothing for the dog.

Alexis shook her head. "A lot of grocery stores only carry crappy dog food. We would need a pet store to get the good stuff and we have enough for now."

Rick wasn't really sure there was a difference but she had obviously done a lot of research and had planned this out in advance. So he pushed their groceries out to the RV and together they loaded everything inside and got back on the road.

Alexis pulled out her map; they ignored the GPS for now and managed to miss the construction on the Interstate. That lasted all of about 10 miles before they hit another one.

"Is all of this place under construction?" Rick questioned as they slowly crawled their way down the Interstate for 10 miles before it ended. It still left them with a 7 hour trip to make.

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It wasn't dark yet but it soon would be by the time Rick made the turn the GPS told him to. "Petosky RV Resort." They'd made it to Michigan.

Alexis proceeded to list this place's amenities."Free Wi-Fi, pet park, clubhouse, firewood's available, pool, hot tub, pickleball, tennis, fitness center, library, putting green, full hookups, fire ring, picnic table, and game room."

"Pickleball?" Rick had no idea what it was.

"Don't ask me, I've never heard of it. Guess we can find out, though." Alexis was game.

A stop at the office revealed that they could handle their length easily enough, but all of their sites were pull in with no drive throughs.

"Sounds like you get to learn how to back up with the trailer." Alexis smiled wide since he hadn't had to do that for years. Not since they had the first trailer and she was a lot younger.

"It'll be a snap." And Rick snapped his fingers.

There was a lot of grass, all the trees were really young, there were two ponds and each one had a fountain. The sites were concrete and only long enough to just fit them if Rick pulled in all the way.

Alexis pressed the buttons and out came the slides, down came the leveling jacks and she was outside first with Dixie so she could do her thing.

"I think I like the other one better," Rick commented since it had a water park and had been a lot of fun. "What makes this one so special?"

Alexis pointed since they were on the edge of the site. "Lake Michigan and all that it offers." She thought that made this place worth it. "We'll need to use the car this time."

"Works for me." They'd bought the car just for times like this.

They both looked around and all they saw were RVs the same size as theirs. None of them were towing trailers though a few were towing cars or jeeps.

They had a picnic table and fire ring and had bought some firewood. So they needed to extend the canopies, hook up, get everything they wanted out and set up.

The sun was starting to go down by the time they had everything ready. Rick offered Alexis a deal. "I'll cook outside if you'll cook inside. I'll get the lamb if you do everything else."

"Deal!" Alexis loved the way he cooked lamb shanks and they had just what they needed to do just that.

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Rick pulled the car out and Alexis hopped in. "You're sure you want to leave Dixie behind?" Rick knew she had food, water, her bed, and her toys.

"No, but she'll be fine. You can drop me off at the Inn. And be nice, Dad, she's just a puppy. She doesn't know any better. Maybe if you're nice to her you could teach her a trick. Sit would be good." Alexis knew what was there and knew her dad wouldn't be interested. "You have your GPS, go where you want. I'll be ready in about 6 hours." Alexis got out when Rick stopped outside of the Inn.

He really was curious as to just what she was up to, but he trusted her even if trusting her had gotten them a puppy. It was just that she was glowing and happy. And she was trustworthy. Far more trustworthy than he was at her age. Six hours was really stretching it a lot, though.

"Hi, I'm a little late for my reservation. Construction on the Interstate," she shrugged. "What can I say? I'm Alexis Castle," she said to the lady at the front desk.

"Of course, Ms. Castle, it's not a problem. Dominique will be right with you. Serenity by the Bay. Ultimate Facial, Northern Luxury, Northern Luxury Pedicure, Northern Luxury Manicure, Nourishment and Champagne. It will take 6 hours." The lady was betting that she already knew that.

"Yes, I know. My ride will be back in 6 hours." Alexis was so looking forward to this. She was sure her dad would find something to amuse himself.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/

Alexis came out of the spa feeling like a new person. Her fingers and even her toes had a sort of tingle to them. Even parts of her body had a sort of tingle to it. She felt amazing and wondered why she hadn't ever thought of doing this before.

There were spas in New York City that were far more prestigious and more highly rated, not to mention a lot more expensive. It was true her dad had given her her own credit card and made sure he paid off the bill each month if there was one. She just didn't want to use it for some frivolous reason. She didn't think this qualified for that.

She came up short and stopped walking when she saw her dad sitting in the lobby and he had Dixie in his lap. She saw that he'd spotted her and then he put Dixie on the floor, maybe because she was squirming in his lap, wanting to get down.

Alexis couldn't help but grin as Dixie did her best to race across the tile floor and start jumping up against her smooth legs. She bent down to pick her up. "Hi, Dixie, did you miss me?" Getting her face licked was her answer.

Alexis walked over to her dad, sat down next to him, and kept a happy Dixie in her lap. "How long have you been here?" She really hoped he didn't say something close to 6 hours.

Rick looked at his watch. "Almost an hour or maybe 2."

Alexis felt better about it after hearing that since she had feared far worse. "So what did you do?" She was sure it was something silly but wanted to hear it.

"I went fishing out on the lake," Rick informed her.

That wasn't what Alexis was expecting to hear. "Did you catch anything?" Maybe they were having fresh fish for dinner tonight.

Rick really hated to admit it but… "I got sea sick and spent most of the trip throwing up over the side of the boat." He had been on boats before and hadn't had any trouble. This time had been different.

"Oh, Dad." Now she felt bad for him. She had had a really good time and her dad had had a terrible time. She leaned her head up against his shoulder. "Sorry." She stayed that way for a few minutes.

"Are you ready to go home?" Rick asked.

"There's a chophouse and wine bar restaurant on the water not far from here if you feel like eating out." She wasn't sure his stomach would approve, though.

"I don't honestly feel like it and I'm betting they don't accept pets." Dixie was still in her lap and looked happy to be there.

"Maybe tomorrow." They were only staying two nights before moving on.

Alexis could accept that. They needed to get back and feed Dixie anyway and he was right; they wouldn't allow Dixie inside with them.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/

The slides were tucked in, the leveling jacks were up and it had taken Rick 3 tries to back up with the trailer attached and get everything pointed in the same direction.

Alexis just had to rub it in. "Took you 3, Dad!" she crowed.

"Just give me the address," Rick groused. Alexis had obviously enjoyed this stop and if it wasn't for the chophouse meal last night he would have considered it a complete bust.

"N2884 28th Avenue, Lyndon Station, Wisconsin." Alexis sat back.

"Is that anywhere near Chicago?" Rick inquired hopefully.

"Not exactly. But you'll love it, you'll see." Alexis was sure her dad was going to love this stop.

Rick looked at his GPS. "It says 8 hours and it looks like we're going north first from here."

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"Now this is a bridge!" Rick was loving the crossing not long after they got started.

That had Alexis pulling out her binder. "Mackinac Bridge. Opened in 1957, the 26,372-foot-long bridge is the world's 22nd-longest main span and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere." She looked out of the window. "It kind of reminds me of New York City. Just without all the buildings."

They lost the Interstate immediately after crossing the bridge and ended up on a state road that was only a two lanes wide. There really wasn't anywhere for Rick to pull over and let the faster cars go past so they ended up creating a nice long train of cars behind them. Save for the cars that gunned it and passed them when there was an opening.

They chose to stop in a town called Menominee for lunch. Entering it and hitting stop lights freed up a lot of the cars that were trapped behind them.

**Schloegel's Bay View Restaurant**

They took up several parking spaces and Rick lined them up so they could get back out.

"Ooo, peanut butter and bacon burger." Rick found something he liked. "Wonder if it comes with cheese? The ultimate cheese burger."

"I thought you were sick from your boat trip?" Alexis was thinking that this thing would make him just as sick.

"I feel fine. Did you find anything?" If not they needed to move on.

"Fresh strawberry and chicken salad." Alexis had found something that sounded healthy. Far healthier than what her dad was going to eat.

After letting Dixie run around near the lake in the grass and do her thing, they were back on the road.

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Rick read the sign as they pulled in. "Ho-Chunk Gaming RV Park."

Alexis listed what they provided. "Full hookups, heated outdoor swimming pool, store with gift shop, playground for children, canoe rental, paddle boat rental, game room, hot showers, laundry room, dump station, recycling station, propane, pets are welcome.

"Oh and Wisconsin Dells attractions and Casino." Alexis waited for it for all of about a nanosecond.

"CASINO!" Suddenly this place was looking up for Rick. Alexis had known that would get her dad.

They had pull throughs and as usual for them of late, they took up the entire pull through being so long. Unlike last time, this place was surrounded by trees. Yes they could see their neighbors but you had to look through trees to see them.

This site even came with a dump waste connection so they didn't have to stop at the dump station on their way out.

They found a picnic table and a fire ring and had bought some fire wood at the rental site.

After pressing buttons, pulling out a carpet and chairs, they were all set. Dixie found a spot and did her business before bounding back to her best buddy.

"What's first, Dad, or is that a stupid question?" Alexis asked since Dixie was happy and just needed to be fed. All Rick did was smile at her and pull out the car keys. "Stupid question."

It was going to be dark relatively soon but that really didn't matter since they were going to be indoors shortly.

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Ho-Chunk Gaming, Wisconsin Dells. Eagle Summit Casino. It was an 18+ casino so Alexis couldn't legally play. All she could do was watch.

"Win a new Ford F150 4x4, Dad." The truck itself was sitting on a pedestal somehow with machines all around it.

While the sound of machines spinning and spitting out winnings sounded good, Rick had other ideas and sat down at a blackjack table with Alexis right behind him. She couldn't play, but that didn't stop her from counting cards and squeezing one shoulder or the other to tell her dad what to do.

"YES!" Rick had taken a risk and bet the maximum allowed at this table and had won.

"I'm hungry," Alexis said to the back of his head.

Rick groaned. Yes, he had lost on occasion but he was up and he was winning. But he was winning because of his too-smart-for-herself daughter. If she stopped squeezing his shoulder he was on his own. He sighed and scooped up his chips. "Let's see if they have a buffet then." They could come back and go back to winning later.

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**Standrock ****B****uffet.**

They read the large card just outside. "Today's Wednesday so it looks like it's Taco Day for $13. Italian is tomorrow. Saturday's Prime Rib Day. How long are we staying again?" It was $33 but it might be worth it.

"We leave Saturday morning." Alexis had planned on staying in a place for a little longer but this wasn't the place.

"Two more days of Blackjack." Rick was willing to accept that. He was up $1,855. He'd already won enough to fill the gas tanks. Maybe he could win enough to fill it a couple of more times.

They also had Copper Oak Steakhouse and Lounge. Steaks cooked over hickory, steamed lobster, homemade soups, and craft beers.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/

Alexis was already in her seat with Dixie in her lap who, after doing her business, was satisfied to just sleep right where she was.

Rick was outside putting the last of everything away after Alexis had pressed all the buttons.

Rick came inside, leaned across to Alexis, and kissed her forehead. "Thanks, pumpkin." The previous stop had obviously been all for Alexis. This stop had been all for him.

"You're welcome, Dad." She was glad he was happy. "How much did you finally win?" Technically she had won it but she wasn't doing the betting so if he had bet quarters he wouldn't have won that much.

"$4,887!" Rick wiggled his ass a little since he was really happy. It was enough to buy diesel and fill their tanks more than once. He was happy with that.

"Where to next? Downtown Chicago maybe?" Rick smiled at her since he knew he was teasing. They would never fit in downtown Chicago.

Alexis did her best not to disturb Dixie while she reached for her binder for their next stop. "1326 Fire Mountain Road, Hinckley, Minnesota." She put her binder down and began stroking Dixie who was sleeping soundly in her lap. She was starting to love Dixie more than she could say. The puppy'd only had one accident and that was because they had left her alone too long.

"GPS says 5 hours. Our shortest trip yet." Rick had agreed not to question her choices of stops and since the last one had been great he was willing to keep his promise. For now.

Interstate 90 before switching to Interstate 94 had so far proven to be a nice simple drive. They had even stopped for gas, got some snacks, and something to drink.

Rick pressed _**HOT**_ and put his cup of coffee into his now heated cup holder. Alexis had a standard cup holder for her Gatorade bottle though Dixie wanted the snack she was eating and was trying to figure out how to get off the floor and back into her lap so she could help herself to what her best buddy was eating since it smelled really interesting.

"Here's yours." Alexis fed her something.

"Alexis!" Rick scolded. Feeding the dog people food was something he didn't think she should be doing because once you started you couldn't stop and it might give the dog diarrhea.

She was way out in front of him. "It's a doggie treat. Duck jerky technically meant for puppies." Alexis was trying to be careful.

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Their first issue was that they were getting closer to Minneapolis. It was thankfully Saturday so they weren't hitting rush hour traffic, but it still slowed them down. Then 2 hours later about an hour away from their destination the Interstate was being worked on so they hit yet another construction zone.

"I swear half of this country under construction," Rick muttered in irritated disbelief. "At least we're almost there." An hour was close enough to be called almost.

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Eventually Rick made a turn and saw the sign, Grand Casino Hinckley RV Resort. "You didn't!" Would his daughter do this for him?

Alexis picked up her binder and flipped pages. "Heated pool, sports courts, picnic table, fire pit and of course, free shuttle service to the casino 24/7. They have a doggie kennel and day camp. They don't have any pull-thrus. Sorry, Dad." Given how much trouble he'd had last time, she was a little sorry about that.

Rick wasn't listening. His brain had stopped at the word **C****asino**.

They still had several hours before it was dark and they hadn't stopped for lunch. "Cook or go find something?" Rick asked after they stopped and got set up.

"It says they have two buffets, one steakhouse, and various bars and grills," Alexis replied then went outside with Dixie so she could do her thing.

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They picked a buffet and rode the shuttle van to the casino that was basically on the other side of a large parking lot so it wasn't really all that far.

"Prime Rib Saturdays, Dad." Alexis pointed at the board that was out front. "And it's only $18.99 this time. Smokehouse is tomorrow. St. Louis Style Ribs, BBQ Chicken, Brisket, and BBQ Meatballs. We're eating here tomorrow." She wasn't taking no for an answer.

Rick was good with that since he was happy. He was looking forward to having Alexis behind him and counting cards. Then they hit something they hadn't anticipated. Alexis was stopped by someone and asked to show her age. At 16 years old she was denied access. Rick had tried to explain that she wasn't going to be doing any betting. He was doing that, she was only watching. They still refused her entrance.

"Looks like you're on your own." Alexis patted his arm and headed for the shuttle to get back to Dixie. She could hook her up, take her for a walk, and try to find the doggie kennel and doggie day care area.


	5. Chapter 5

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 5_

Everything was stored away. Alexis was pressing buttons and Rick was sitting behind the wheel grumbling. Alexis was grinning since she could guess why. Apparently the only 2 living beings in this RV were herself and Dixie.

Dixie was happy for 3 reasons really. One, she was a naturally happy puppy. Two, she had met another puppy and had gotten to play with it a little. Third was that she was right where she wanted to be. In Alexis's lap.

"We're all set, Dad. How did you do this time?" All she got was a glare from him. "Sorry, but it wasn't my fault." She had been denied access. She just hoped he hadn't lost too much.

"Where to now?" was all she got. She began flipping through her binder.

"12620 Highway 244, Hill City, South Dakota." Alexis put her binder away and started petting Dixie.

"South Dakota. Ooo, Mount Rushmore. Are we going to see Mount Rushmore?" Rick looked at Alexis for a clue.

"Wait and see, just wait and see." Alexis tried to hide her grin.

"GPS says 11 hours. Have you got a plan for that? We hit more construction and it'll be closer to 13," Rick questioned her since so far their chances of not hitting construction was proving to be pretty bad.

"Have a little faith, Dad." Alexis thought she had everything under control. "Just stop somewhere so we can have lunch."

Rick went with it and began driving.

Alexis glanced at her dad. "How are you enjoying your room?" She loved her space. It was far better than her old one.

"It's amazing! I'm starting to wonder if the white walls was such a good thing, though. Not that we had a choice. But the bed is nice and big and there's lots of space. …How's yours?" They had slept in their new RV for a little while so they had a chance to get used to it and decided if there were things they didn't like and could fix for next time.

"It's great! I have lots of closet space, my own TV with a built-in DVD player and it's really comfortable." She didn't even mind climbing up and down at all. "Even Dixie likes it. Did I tell you that I woke up once and found her sleeping on my throat. Her little belly was right over my throat. She didn't even wake up when I moved her." Alexis was smiling since it was so cute and she was going to remember that forever.

"What are you going to do when she reaches 50 pounds?" She was just a puppy now, but eventually she was going to be a full grown dog.

"We'll move to your bed. You can have mine," Alexis teased him since she couldn't resist.

Rick teased her right back. "Just as soon as you buy the RV instead of just riding in it."

"You can take it out of my allowance," Alexis fought back, still teasing.

He rolled his eyes. "At that rate you'll be 60 years old."

"Well since according to you I'm not getting married until I'm 30 that sounds about right." Alexis was more fighting back now than teasing since they were starting to reach sensitive ground here.

"And don't you forget it. You're also going to be a virgin until you're 30," Rick reminded her. Suddenly an orange fish cracker hit his head and landed in his lap.

"It's not up to you," Alexis told him and threw 2 more crackers to reinforce her point.

Rick knew this day was coming. She was growing up and already reached her sweet 16. Too damn fast to his way of thinking. She'd already been on a few dates but she'd never dated the same guy twice. Rick was hoping that his gun cleaning when 2 of them had shown up had something to do with that.

Two more orange fish landed in his lap.

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They had stopped for lunch at a Subway shop and had subs, chips, and a soda each.

"26014 478th Avenue, Brandon, South Dakota," Alexis said before they left their lunch spot. "This is our stop before we get to the main site," she explained and couldn't help but grin since she knew her dad was going to love this.

It meant getting off the Interstate before they reached Sioux Falls and immediately they hit construction.

"We're cursed I know it!" Rick was done with construction. This time it was just a new bridge that was being constructed and it only slowed everyone down a little.

"NO WAY!" Rick saw the sign and tuned to look at his daughter to make sure. "Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park! The best daughter EVER!" He was going to raise her allowance for this.

Alexis pulled out her binder and went over everything. "Corn maze when in season, jumping pillow, pedal and golf cart rental, heated swimming pool and spa, indoor theatre, mini golf, volleyball, basketball, air conditioned general store, Yogi Bear gifts and souvenirs, camper supplies, firewood and ice, laundromat, free Wi-Fi, propane, dump station, free hot showers, picnic area, picnic table and fire ring."

"How long are we staying?" Rick thought one night wasn't going to be near enough time.

"Two nights and 3 days. Hopefully that's long enough for you." Actually given her dad's penchant for find a way to have fun, especially at a place like this she might end up wishing they stayed longer.

They had pull-thrus that were almost twice as long as they were and normal full site connections save for a waste connection. They would need to use the dump site on their way out.

Rick wasted no time in getting their bicycles out so that they could find out just where everything was and naturally she found him peddling to the Yogi Bear gift store first thing.

She had to admit that this place had everything Yogi. Rick had a problem though. He had an armful of stuff that he couldn't resist and yet all he had was a bicycle.

"Stay right here. I'm going to go get the car." Rick left Alexis standing our front with an armful of stuff and her bike as her dad peddled away.

"I knew I was going to regret this." But she was smiling since her dad was happy again after losing she didn't want to know how much at the blackjack table without her.

When he came back with the car he had at least come back with their propane bottle so that they could fill it up and put it back in place.

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"Best daughter ever." Rick was still happy and kissed her head on the way to his room with all of his stuff.

"We need the car tomorrow." She knew her dad had a lot of little kid in him but Jellystone was really meant for actual little kids. Not big kids-at-heart so she had a plan for tomorrow.

"Oh." Rick couldn't think of a reason to leave this place. It was Jellystone!

"Put on your swimsuit and grab a towel; it's only 5 miles from here." Alexis gave him a hint.

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"26767 466th Ave, Sioux Falls, SD" Alexis gave him an address for the GPS in the mini. Dixie was fed, had water, had peed and pooped, and while she didn't like being left behind, Alexis didn't have a choice. No dogs allowed.

"Wild Water West Waterpark!" Rick was all smiles even if he had guessed it.

They soon found Tornado Alley. A 55 foot circular slide with a hole in the middle that dumped you into a pool. A 65 foot tower that you had to climb up to that had 4 different slides off of it. Wave Pool, Lazy Tube River, Caribbean Falls, bumper boats. And just when Rick thought he had had enough he found out that they had a go kart ride. So they sat in go karts in wet swimsuits and went around the track before going home.

Rick wrapped his arms around his daughter just as they get out of the car and hugged her. "Best daughter ever." Alexis smiled and felt tears starting.

He wasn't even mad when they found 2 pee spots and 1 poop on the floor. They had been gone hours and Dixie just couldn't hold it that long.

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"12620 Highway 244, Hill City, South Dakota." Rick needed to put the first address back in the GPS so they could continue their summer vacation.

They were down to 4 hours so they were there by lunch.

Rick read the sign as they turned in. "MOUNT RUSHMORE KOA AT PALMER GULCH. I knew it! Mount Rushmore here we come." He had never been there before but that was kind of the point of going on summer vacations in an RV, to go places and see things they'd never seen before.

Alexis pulled out her binder and listed everything this place had to offer. "Two heated swimming pools, another bounce pillow, car rental, catering chuck wagon dinner show, climbing wall, fishing, free shuttle to Mount Rushmore, a water slide, hot tub and sauna, mini golf, dog park, propane, picnic table, fire ring, and free Wi-Fi."

They saw the pool and hot tub right out front just before the office. There was even parking to check-in for long rigs like them. They were given a brochure and had bought some firewood for later. They also saw 2 restaurants.

Alexis had the map. "Space number 569. Turn left…, now turn right. We should be the fifth one on the left. Space 569, Dad." Alexis saw it. They'd learned the maximum allowed was 90 feet and while they came close they didn't exceed that number.

It was a pull-thru so leaving was easy. Alexis let Dixie out and walked her around while Rick pressed buttons and pulled everything out for them to use.

They decided to make their own lunch instead of going to 1 of the 2 restaurants. They also had a car so they didn't need the shuttle.

"Three nights and 4 days here then we move on," Alexis told him. They'd bought tickets for the chuck wagon dinner show tonight so lunch was light and simple.

"Pool, mini golf, or jumping pillow?" Alexis watched him grin at her. She rolled her eyes. "I'm hitting the pool. Have fun, Dad." She went into her space and closed the pocket door after Dixie joined her; she changed into a swimsuit. When she came out her dad was already gone. "You're lucky you're a dog, Dixie." Alexis picked her up and kissed her before leaving her behind. She took out her bicycle and headed for 1 of the 2 pools.

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_This open-air show takes place in a remote mountain meadow. You'll ride to the show on a horse-drawn covered wagon or via horseback where you'll enjoy a Real Cowboy music show performed by local waddies and ranchers! Watch a real dough-boxer grill Dakota grown beef steaks over an aspen-wood camp fire and taste dutch-oven side dishes prepared right out of the chuck-box._

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"Mount Rushmore, here we come!" Rick called out loudly after getting the car out and making sure Dixie was good to be left behind though they both expected to find something for Alexis to clean up when they got back. They planned on being gone for hours.

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_Enjoy the Black Hills on horseback! Several different trail rides are available for riders of all skill levels. Scenic rides are available through the Black Elk Wilderness Area and the Norbeck Wildlife Refuge._

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_Explore the trails of South Dakota's Black Hills with a UTV Rental. Miles of great forest service trails are right out our back door for your entire family to enjoy. Pack a cooler, some snacks, and embark on a Black Hills Adventure._

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Alexis was sitting on the floor playing with Dixie since over the last 3 days she'd been left behind in the RV all alone. And while she hadn't been destructive she hadn't been able to hold it and had given them things for Alexis to clean up when they got back.

Rick was cooking dinner. He had chosen to make his famous spaghetti with homemade meat sauce. "So what's next on your list of places?" he asked while stirring the sauce.

"If you mean RV parks that are big enough for us and give us a reason to be there, nothing until Washington state and Oregon. Even Yellowstone can't handle our size." She had come up with a problem just about now in her list of places to go.

"So what are we going to be doing?" Rick was still curious.

"We're going to be dry camping for a while after this. Essentially go somewhere and just stop and stay," Alexis said.

"Then it's a good thing we have solar cells and a satellite dish. We need to make sure everything's full or empty." If they were going to be on their own, they needed to be ready.

"We need to go shopping tomorrow before we leave, too. Get food and dog food and maybe fill the propane bottles," Alexis added.

"Car trip it is." It sounded to Rick like the size of the Mini was going to come in handy.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

"This fills the space below your bed, Dad. We get any more and it'll have to go on the floor and when we pull in the slides we lose space when we're on the move." Space to get around inside got smaller when the slides weren't out. Alexis was slender enough that it wasn't too bad. Her dad tended to be a little more clumsy so it was harder for him.

"What does the pad say?" Were they ready to leave?

Alexis went in search of it. "We haven't run the generator yet. The water tank's full. All of our fuel tanks still need to be filled and we need to stop at the dump station on the way out. Based on our water and waste tank sizes I'd guess that we're good for about 2 weeks or a little more before we need to find a place. The problem is that means finding a rest area on an Interstate with a dump station and a place to fill our water tank. The best RV parks that fit us are back here or in Washington state.

"There are some in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. I just rejected them for 1 reason or another. We could go to them to get what we want." They had a few options.

"Give me an address and we can get started or do you need to take Dixie out first?" Rick asked.

"Good idea. Come on, Dixie, you need to go potty." Alexis picked her up and took her outside.

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Alexis gave him an address to plug into his GPS. "PHW6+W9 St Mary, Montana."

"Do I get a hint this time?" Rick stopped short from finishing.

"Saint Mary Visitor Center. Hope you brought some hiking boots. You're going to need them."

"The GPS didn't like your address, but it does know where that visitor center's located. Wow, it says it's 13 hours from here. So with our luck it'll be even longer than that," Rick warned her.

"Stop wherever you want, Dad. For the next 2 weeks, we're on our own," Alexis said.

That was unexpected. Rick was sure she had everything all mapped out for them. Right up until it was time to go home and maybe even then.

"It sounds like fun," he offered.

"That's the plan." Alexis was happy for the next part. She had worried about exercising too much control, however her dad had gone with it so far. Now she got to sit back and let her dad make the decisions. She just hoped this was a good idea.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

They had started out on Interstate 90 but now they were on this little 2 lane road that was route 3. It wasn't even a state road so it was a little tight for them. Rick had to keep his eyes on the road and avoid taking up too much road. Like drifting into on coming traffic or having the outside tires hit gravel and end up with a puncture.

They had gone around Billings, Montana and hadn't stopped since they didn't need anything.

The first town they'd gone through after leaving Billings, which didn't even had a stop light, was a place called Acton. It was almost an _if you blinked you missed it _kind of town.

Next up was a town called Comanche. About an hour later came Broadview.

Another hour later and they crossed a river called Musselshell. He didn't see anywhere to stop and continued on until they came into yet another really small town called Lavina. Here they came to a T in the road and went left on State Route 12. It was a better road even if it was just 2 lanes.

Ryegate and Barber were the next small towns. Then Rick saw a sign and turned off. Alexis didn't say a thing but she knew what had his attention. It had said something about DEADMAN'S BASIN and showed a boat symbol. Not that they had a boat.

Rick saw a sign to the right that said something about a boat ramp and a campground, so he took it. Ever since he had turned onto this road it was strictly dirt.

They saw the boat ramp and even saw a few empty boat trailers. Moving on and turning left at the sign they saw a few trees and even a couple of buildings. Rick also saw a place to park where he could get back out and not block traffic so he took it.

"Here we are." It looked like this would do. After pressing a few buttons and taking Dixie outside so she could do her business they decided to take a look around.

They found that 1 of the buildings was a his and hers outhouse. "WOW!" Alexis pinched her nose closed. She supposed that if she really had to she would use it, but she didn't have to. They had a much better place.

The place did have a beach though, and Dixie got her first taste of being near water. The water just kinda lapped at the shore line so she didn't actually get wet and didn't try to. Though her nose was going a mile a minute.

Someone farther down had 3 cars and 3 tents set up in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much green as it was. It was mostly just dirt, beach, and water. They did get a few looks but no one came to question them. It wasn't every day that a 1.45 million dollar RV with a trailer parked there.

While it wasn't planned and it wasn't green Alexis decided that she sort of liked it. It was spontaneous and she didn't have to keep Dixie on a leash. After walking around there was just those 3 cars and 1 other who also had a tent out; it looked like a young couple out camping. They had chosen the lone spot that had trees on 1 side between them and the road.

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They stayed and walked around the place until just after lunch the next day and were back on the road again. They had another 6 hours or so to reach Saint Mary, Montana, and where Alexis had planned for them to go to next.


	6. Chapter 6

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 6_

"Last chance, Dad. Gas is there and a grocery store's just up the road," Alexis warned and watched as Rick stopped at the Sinclair gas station and filled up. He skipped the grocery store since they really didn't need anything yet.

"Okay down _Going to the Sun Road." _Alexis pointed the way that would take them past the gas station and onto a small road.

To the right they saw a Saint Mary Visitor Center but didn't stop.

"Oh, I see Saint Mary Campground Glacier National Park." It looked a little small for them but Rick was betting that was the place.

Alexis shook her head. "Nope, just follow the road." Rick turned left and saw a lake on their left through the trees and more trees to the right. The road was actually paved though it was barely two lanes and a little rough.

"Hey!" Rick saw a sign and thought this was it. "Rising Sun Campground." He even saw a motel called Rising Sun Motor Inn.

"Nope, keep going, Dad. That's tent camping only." They weren't stopping there.

"Boat ramp." Rick was going really slow just to be careful so that afforded him time to see around him better. "Maybe we should add a canoe next time."

"So long as it has a motor on the back." Alexis wasn't paddling anywhere.

"Wild Goose Island Lookout." Rick decided to stop so they could at least look. There really wasn't any place for them to stop since they were far too big. So Rick parked partially on the road so that if anyone came past them they would have to be careful and go around.

Alexis hooked Dixie up and they went across the road with a camera to take some pictures.

Then they were back on the road and just kept driving though Rick went slow partly because of the road and partly because he wanted to see where he was going. He pointed at a new sign. "Go for it, Dad." It looked like a nice enough road.

"Going-to-the-Sun-Point." It sounded interesting. They found the place to be totally empty, not so much as one single car, though to be honest they hadn't seen too many cars on this road.

They found a really good place to turn around and stop. Getting out with Dixie on her leash they found a sign that said it was Sun Point Nature Trail. They walked the trail for a little ways and took more pictures. Then they were back on the road.

"There should be a parking lot coming up soon." Alexis was studying her binder. They soon saw it and found it full of cars. "We couldn't park there anyway." She hadn't thought that they could. "There should be a side area just a little ways up on the left." It meant parking pointed the wrong way but it would work if it was empty enough.

Rick watched as they went past a spot on the left that was very established. It also gave him a clue as to why they were here.

It wasn't. "There's another one a little farther on. It's a bit bigger." It was also a little more out of the way which would mean more walking for them. "There, Dad, and no cars."

Rick liked it. It was a lot bigger than the last one. It even allowed him to start to go past it, turn around and come back and park just far enough away from the edge that they could get the slide outs out and set up camp.

"This is the spot, this is where we stay," Alexis informed him as she picked up the pad and started pressing buttons.

"So what's here?" What made this place so special?

"We have to walk back that way a little down the road but there are walking trails all over this place. Also there's Saint Mary Falls and Virginia Falls, the two best falls in this area. We can also use the mountain bikes. If we had a tent we could do some tent camping." They didn't and Alexis wasn't really interested in tent camping. If the place didn't have even an outhouse, she didn't want to camp there.

"I thought you didn't like tent camping," Rick remarked in surprise.

"I don't. I'm going to sleep here and but you could have the tent if you wanted." Alexis already knew the answer to that.

"No, thanks." Rick was even worse than Alexis when it came to tent camping.

"We can let Dixie out and look around, then get the bikes out and start exploring." They had hours before it got dark.

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Dixie had been allowed to do her thing while Rick got out the bicycles. Soon they were biking down the way they'd come. They went past the side parking that was now a little less full but not empty enough for them. Then they reached the established area Rick had seen. It was also full of cars.

"Maybe before we set up camp for the night, we could try coming down here later and see if the cars are all gone." Alexis would have liked to have parked here. It was just that if there were too many cars here they had no way of turning around.

Neither of them saw signs telling them there was no overnight parking but parking here might be a risk if anyone took exception to them parking there.

They had to carry the bikes down the first set of steps to make it to the trail.

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They hadn't made it to Saint Mary Falls yet which was the first one before Rick stopped.

"The trail is 5.2 miles in length. There are a total of 5 waterfalls in this area alone," Alexis told him.

That had Rick looking back the way they had come and he groaned. Getting to this point had been only a small challenge since most of it was downhill.

Then she told him the kicker for this trip. "Elevations change of 770 feet in total." She heard her dad groan again. She had to admit that biking up and down 5.2 miles that went up or down 770 feet wasn't going to be all that much fun.

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They finally made it to Saint Mary Falls. They saw that it fell in three separate tiers that were maybe about 35 to 40 feet in all. Once they reached it they felt it. The valley they were in had a bit of wind that picked up the water spray and sent it everywhere. It was like standing in front of a mister. Both of them stood there and let the water hit them.

They also weren't alone, though they were the only ones using bicycles to travel the distance. "We should have brought bikes," one of the men said to his wife.

Rick was done for today so they started peddling their way back up the hill where they carried their bikes up the steps and then back to the RV. Once there Rick got started on dinner while Alexis went for a walk with Dixie and picked up after her.

Rick was still cooking and Alexis was on the floor trying to teach Dixie how to play tug of war. "So there are 5 waterfalls in this area."

"Yep, that was just the first of them. All the others are on the same trail, just farther out. When we're done here we can move on to see a few more." That was the good part about this section of the trip. There was more to see. "Saint Mary Falls, Barring Falls, Virginia Falls, and two falls that haven't been named," Alexis explained.

"Does that mean we get to name them if we find them?" He was all for that. "Castle Falls." Rick stopped cooking and began daydreaming. Alexis shook her head. He was doing it again

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It took them 2 days to reach all 5 waterfalls and take a few pictures. At the moment Rick was way in the back resting on his bed because his legs ached fiercely. Alexis was outside walking Dixie and mostly felt fine.

He was never going to admit it, but he was getting to old for this shit. "We need dirt bikes." Screw bicycles.

Two more days of doing nothing and they still hadn't been told to move. Right now Rick was checking his tie down straps that held the bikes in place on the rack on the back of the Mini. Alexis had a place they could go that was more trail and promised yet another waterfall.

It meant continuing up the road they were on until they reached a tight 180 degree turn. Alexis had assured him that there was parking for them on the side where they could take the bikes off and start up the trail.

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"Piegan Pass Trail." True to her word, there was a place to park on the side of the road. Four of them actually. Then up the trail they started, going past people that were walking up and people that were walking back down.

"Somebody planned ahead." They were being envied yet again.

They made it to the end and looked up like everyone else was doing. It wasn't so much that it was a single waterfall, as that it was a series of small waterfalls that looked a lot like a shallow rafting river coming down the mountain.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/

After two more days of letting her dad rest they packed it all up and got back on the road. They soon went past Piegan Pass Trail and kept on going.

As they traveled they saw that the road was cut right into the side of the mountain. A few hundred of feet up and at least a hundred feet down the mountain. There was eventually another 180 degree bend in the road and a place for cars to park but not space for them since they were too big. "It's just another trail, Dad. No waterfall here."

Not far up the road and up the side of the mountain they came to Logan Pass Visitor Center that had a huge parking lot and lots of space for them to stop and park.

Alexis hooked up Dixie and they started walking to the visitor center. It said no dogs allowed but Dixie was a puppy so Alexis picked her up and ignored the sign. Behind the visitor center they found a trail that went up the mountain that they took a pass on.

Immediately after that they found that the road was again cut right into the side of the mountain. Hundreds of feet up and a hundred feet down. It was not for the faint of heart to traverse. Naturally since they were going up they had developed a line of cars behind them that had no chance of passing them.

Everything was fine until they and their big rig hit the hairpin turn that was really tight. Alexis got out to try and stop cars from coming the other way so her dad could make the turn. It was that tight.

"There, Dad, park there." Alexis saw a spot that was just before the marked parking spots for cars. "Red Rock Point. We can stay here for the night. There's supposed to be a pond but the water is likely to be too cold to swim in. The water comes down the mountain to this pool and then continues on down."

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Next morning they were back on the road. "Avalanche Campground is all tent camping so keep going," Alexis said after he pointed out the sign and the Avalanche picnic area.

"That's McDonald Falls," Alexis responded once her dad had gestured at a sign. "Get ready to turn right if you want us to be all alone or go straight if you want to go to the Lake McDonald Lodge complex. It's two hotels and a grill and pizzeria along with docks for boats." Surprised, Alexis watched him turn right.

The bridge they came up to gave Rick pause since they were big and had some weight, but they didn't exceed the listed weight so he went across slowly. It led to a narrow two lane road that was deep in the woods.

"Okay, keep your eyes open. There should be a dirt road on your left that will take us to the lake." Alexis kept an eye out for the road then saw her dad turn onto a dirt road. "Now go straight until you can't any more. There should be some little side roads that you can use to back up and turn around on." Rick went very slowly since this road was full of bumps and a few holes.

"There, Dad, all the way down there. A little more to the left if you can." They needed space to set out the slide outs and put out the awning or canopy. Right in front of them just as Rick finally stopped was the lake's edge and driftwood scattered all over the bank.

"There are a few cabins around here somewhere but most aren't used from what I read. We might be on someone's property but if they don't like it they can ask us to move if they're even here. Oh, and we can stop at the Lake McDonald Lodge Complex if you want when we leave. They have a horse stable where we can get horses and go out on the trail mounted on horseback." Alexis was going to try and talk him into doing just that. "They also might have gas, but I don't know if they have diesel."

"This is Lake McDonald inside Glacier National Park," Alexis explained as she picked up Dixie. She took her outside and put her down. She did see a cabin in the distance to their right, but she didn't see any cars.

Rick joined her at the water's edge. "That way to our left is Gunsight Mountain, Mount Jackson, and Mount Canyon is back that way that we already passed. In addition there's Heavy Runner Mountain, Citadel Mountain, Little Chief Mountain, and not to be outdone is Going to the Sun Mountain. We're on Going to the Sun Road. It cuts through this mountain range. I thought we might like it."

"It's beautiful. You did well." Rick put an arm around her and hugged her. "Pity we don't have a boat."

"So you can get seasick again?" Alexis teased.

"One time, it was just one time and that lake was rough. This one is nice and smooth." Rick barely saw a ripple. "We don't even have any fishing poles." They apparently hadn't planned ahead all that well for this trip. Not that he had any fishing poles.

"You don't fish. Come on, Dixie, maybe I can teach you to play stick." Alexis left her dad standing in front of the RV, looking out onto the lake. If you looked hard you could even see the Lodge farther up the lake on the left side.

"Teaching her to sit might be better," Rick called after her without turning around. "That and stay."

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Parked next to a lake, lacking a boat and fishing poles, they sat outside, staring at the lake, under their awning with their steel fire pit taken out of storage and wood burning in it.

"Dad, we forgot to have Dixie get her next shots. Can we do that today or tomorrow? Take the car to a town somewhere that has a vet and get her shots. …Please?" She didn't want Dixie getting something and dying on her.

"So what's the closest town that's large enough to have a vet?" Rick wasn't even really sure just where they were now. Alexis got up to retrieve her binder and naturally Dixie followed her. The pup came back and once Alexis sat down, tried to get up into her lap.

"Central Valley Animal Hospital. It's about an hour away. If we hurry we might make it." It was starting to get late.

"Write down the address and I'll get the car out." Rick was up and hurrying toward the trailer.

Alexis went into the RV to find some pen and paper. She gave him the address and they were off. "3650 U.S. Hwy 2 E, Kalispell, Montana."

"Did you bring her paperwork?" Rick asked her. Her face flushed and she shook her head. He turned around and went back, watching her run into the RV then back out. With everything and the dog, Rick got on the road and headed for the address.

They closed at 6:00pm so this was going to be tight.

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It turned out to be really simple with the paperwork in hand for Dixie to get her shots. She needed another set in a few weeks. It took them just over 2 hours but they were soon back at the RV and sitting outside yet again and this time they were watching TV on the outside TV using the DVD.

"Do we stay or move on?" Rick inquired.

"It's up to you, Dad. It's all up to you. The next stop is just a little north of Portland, Oregon but in Washington state," Alexis replied.

"Sounds far." He was thinking at least 2 days.

"Somewhere around 700 miles if I remember correctly," Alexis answered.

Rick was thinking he was right. It sounded like a 2 day trip. "So what's there?" he asked, trying to catch her off guard.

She rolled her eyes. "Nice try." She wasn't telling him a thing more than she already had. "You'll like it. It's right up your alley." Meaning it was perfect for kids.

"Does this piece of paradise have a name?" Rick doubted that would help him but he might get lucky.

Alexis decided to tell him since she doubted he had heard of it before. "Toutle River RV Resort."

Rick replayed the name in his head and came up empty. "So it's on a river." Problem was he had never heard of Toutle, either. Portland, Oregon he had heard of.

"So not on a beach." He was looking forward to being on or near a beach this trip.

"That's the next site. You'll like it too." Save for one she thought he had liked all of them so far.

Rick tried his luck again. "Does it have a name as well?"

"Probably, but I don't know what it is." Getting there was likely a week away so she hadn't memorized it. "There is a beach for you, though." They weren't going to be right on the beach, but they could reach it without difficulty.

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Alexis had gotten up in the middle of the night to take Dixie outside so she could do her business. It was as dark as it could get with only the lights of the Lodge next to the lake in the distance being on.

Come morning she was up, showered and dressed, and back outside with Dixie just at the edge of the lake. It was nice and peaceful and they still had a few days before they needed to empty their waste tank and fill their potable water tank. Food wasn't a problem nor was power. The rain was behind them and hadn't followed them.

Alexis liked it out here. Except she saw something and it looked like it was on fire and it had a trail of smoke behind it. Worse it was headed her way. Still she stood there and watched it until it was starting to get really close. "DIXIE!" Alexis began backing up; it was getting really close.

"DAD! _DADDY!"_ Even if he heard her his bedroom was at the back of the RV. Alexis kept backing up. "DAD!" she yelled again and watched whatever it was crash into the lake a few hundred feet from them. It caused the water to expand out from there including toward her.

It was enough that she picked up Dixie and finally started running while banging on the front of the RV and moving to the door just as it opened.

"It crashed, Daddy. It crashed in the lake," she babbled. She had no idea what it was or what it had been.

"What crashed?" Rick looked past her and thought he saw something in the water. "What crashed, Alexis?" The water was starting to approach their edge of the lake.

"I don't know but it was on fire. A plane maybe, or maybe a helicopter. Not too big." It was too small to be an airline plane. Perhaps private.

They both stood there looking out at the lake when suddenly there was someone thrashing in the water. "Dad?" Did he see what she saw?

It was enough for Rick. He was clad only in his boxers and a pair of sweat pants he'd hurriedly put on. He ran for the lake, ignoring the pain of running barefoot over what was on the ground. Once at the water's edge he waded out into the lake before he began to swim.

He was forced to stop; he was lost. Then he heard Alexis yell at him, telling him where to go from there.


	7. Chapter 7

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 7_

Rick found him. Mostly he saw a head of black hair and maybe even a beard. He was able to get his arm around him and try to swim back to shore. It was laborious and tiring and exhaustion was beginning to set in when suddenly Alexis grabbed hold and tried to help. Together they pulled him out of the lake. Rick had finally had enough so he dropped him, forcing Alexis to let go. "DAD!" She wanted to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. "He's green!"

Rick tried to straighten up and look at who he'd dragged out of the water. He was indeed green. He looked human, had black hair, and a black beard. He was wearing some kind of uniform but she didn't recognize any of it. In fact the writing on it looked more like Chinese to him. But he didn't look anything like a Chinese man.

Alexis decided to risk it; she leaned down and ran two fingers over his skin to see if it rubbed off. "If it's paint it doesn't rub off. …Or wash off from lake water. Why is he green?"

"Martians are little green men," Rick muttered. "This guy has to be at least 6 feet tall." That killed the possibility of him being an alien which Rick suddenly felt bummed about.

"Is he alive?" Alexis asked and hit her dad when Rick didn't move.

Rick rolled his eyes as he bent down, looked him over, and finally put 2 fingers against his neck. Then he leaned close to his mouth. Rick looked up at his daughter. "He's breathing." That sounded like a good thing.

"Go make the sofa into a bed then come back out and help me get him inside." Rick watched her run inside and he just stood there looking at the unconscious man.

Alexis was back and took his legs while Rick put his hands under his shoulders. He lifted up the heavy end and they worked at getting him inside.

Rick saw that she'd even taken the time to put sheets on the bed so they dropped him on it.

Alexis finally saw blood and left them to go find the first aid kit. "Here." She handed it to her dad. Rick wasn't sure why he had to help him since he didn't even know who the green guy was, but he opened it and began working on his wound.

"It doesn't look like it's washing off even with alcohol," Alexis commented as she watched her dad work on him.

Now Rick opened up another fresh alcohol swab and this time he really scrubbed a fresh spot. "Nothing." He couldn't possibly be really green, could he?

Rick began cleaning up the rest of him then sat back and looked him over. Alexis was standing over him and already looking him over.

Save for his black hair absolutely everything about him was green. She leaned down and saw that his eyebrows were black as were his eyelashes. Even his lips that were now really close were a deeper shade of green. Alexis noticed that he smelled like lake water. "Is all of him green?" she wondered aloud and pointed at his shoes.

Rick groaned but got busy taking off his shoes and socks. They both soon saw that his feet, including his toenails, were green. That had Alexis lifting up a hand to see that his fingernails were also green.

"Hollywood actor maybe?" Rick guessed.

"He crashed in something. It was on fire. And it streaked across the sky and crashed into the lake. You think maybe he crashed there on purpose?" Alexis speculated.

Rick thought about it. It explained why he was green, but not why the makeup didn't wash off. "If I was crashing I would rather crash there than into the mountains behind us."

Alexis nodded her agreement. Crashing into any of the mountains around them would be really bad and could have gotten him killed. "What's this?" She put her finger on a patch that was on his arm. She'd never seen anything like it.

"Kind of looks like Chinese to me. I never could make heads or tails of it. But he doesn't look Chinese." Rick suddenly wondered if he had escaped from the Chinese. Except China was hundreds if not thousands of miles from here. Besides, they weren't at war with China. At least not yet. Since being at war with them eventually was looking more and more likely all the time.

"Who do we call?" Alexis queried since he was going to need hospital care most probably.

"Maybe we should let him rest and when he wakes up we can question him about who to contact. There has to be someone who's looking for him. If they were filming they'd have to know that something went wrong and he crashed," Rick said.

It made sense to Alexis. Then she remembered. "DIXIE!" She'd left her outside! She ran to the door to go out and try and find her. The second she opened the door she found Dixie looking at the steps that would allow her to follow her best buddy inside the RV. "Dixie." Alexis picked her up and kissed her head over and over. "You're such a good girl." She hadn't run away. "Let's go outside so you can be a good girl if you have to."

When she came back inside her dad hadn't moved and neither had their guest. Alexis sat down in one of the captain's chairs and stared at the green man. The more she looked him over the more she liked him. He was tall, he was handsome, and she realized that she liked the green. It was different. He wasn't white or black. He was green.

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Kate slipped through the many panels that made up 1 wall and moved to her seat at the table and pressed a panel at the table. That caused the panels to pivot and close up creating a wall.

"Sorry I'm late. I got a report from 1 of the teams that's searching this place. Tell me how we're coming on the shuttles we've found." She was in charge of this expedition and it was turning out to be a challenge for her. For all of them, actually.

"We've got 1 of them working. We still don't fully understand why, but it's presently powered up. It looks like there's room for 2 pilots and then a seating area in back with benches on each side. We're theorizing that it's meant to deploy troops or meant to transport cargo since the middle's empty," Patrick reported.

"We've noticed 2 things. There appears to be a door in the floor where these shuttles are stored and another in the ceiling. When the door in the floor opens it will be directly in front of the Portal. Even more interesting is that after taking dimensions it's small enough to actually fit through the Portal. We've already theorized that they were designed to go through the Portal." He and the others were actually a little astounded.

"We've attempted to open the Portal for home but it refuses. We have a couple of theories about that. One is that the Portals come in various types. Each type allows for travel to distances that are farther and farther away. Another is that we lack the power. Home's just too far away. Given how much power we had to use to get to here we find this to be the most probable explanation. We have managed to get the console that controls it to work and have opened up the Portal for 2 different locations," Willian told her.

"What we believe is the Control Room, just the other side of these doors, as you know, is filled with panels that appear to be control panels. However, the only panel we have so far managed to get operational is the one that controls the Portal. Even more interesting is that they have a barrier that can be raised that will prevent anyone from coming through the Portal to here," Elio said.

"Howler?" She wanted to hear from him next.

"We have 5 armed teams spreading out to search this place. We're learning that this place is huge. We're talking about city-size kind-of-huge. Each area that a team walks into powers up. Lights come on and doors can be opened. Based on what we think the size is we've only searched maybe 3%. So far everything has been living quarters but we still have a long ways to go." He hadn't been ready for just how big this place was.

"I take it you haven't encountered anyone in any of these searches," Kate asked him.

"No, ma'am. So far it's just us. We've found something interesting. One level below us there's a large outdoor patio area. Based on what we can see from that location we're floating on an ocean. We're also several stories up in a central tower. We could see 2 shorter towers farther out," Howler responded.

"A city. That's more than we anticipated and being on an ocean doesn't help us. Okay, I want the first shuttle made ready and get the doors in the ceiling open. If we can't get home that means we need to be able to stay here. We brought food, water, and medical supplies with us, but what we need is land so we can plant crops after we figure out what will grow here.

"I want that shuttle out and doing a survey around us. Find land and get a team on the ground to find out if we can plant crops there. Then we can solve the housing problem for the people that will be doing the farming. We're also going to need meat so we need a survey of all the local wildlife." Kate had just issued her first big order.

"Medical. Dr. Heuer?" They were still alive so it was apparently safe for them to stay here, not like they had a choice.

"We've completed a number of tests to date. The air's perfect for us. The temperature also appears to be being controlled using a system we have yet to locate. So far we have no injuries or any other medical issues. We've set up a temporary triage station as well as a temporary surgical station.

"I'd like to see everyone in the team 1 at a time until everyone's been examined. Just to be safe. There may be 1 of us that isn't immune to what might be here." They were on an alien planet, after all.

"I'll generate a list for you and have them start showing up immediately," Kate easily agreed. "Continue searching. I don't understand how this place, as big as it appears to be, can be completely empty. What happened to the people that built it?" She needed information. "Keep trying to make connections using the Portal. If we have to leave in a hurry I want someplace for us to go. Also keep working on those shuttles. Once we get a third unit working I want to talk about sending it through the Portal. I want the second shuttle to join the first. We need to understand just where we are. Then I want the fourth unit in orbit and doing a scan of the system we're in." Kate paused and tried to think.

"Just the single control panel worries me. Why is it the 1 that controls the Portal?" Kate made a decision. "Howler, try and get your teams to concentrate on finding the power station. I want to know how this place is powered and how much power it has now. How much is it capable of making. Send them where you think best to accomplish that. Where would you be if you were a power station?" Kate decided it had top priority for now.

"Once we find land get set up to analyze samples that are brought back. We need to determine where in the seasonal cycle of this planet we presently are. Is it too late to do any plantings or is it perfect?

"That's all, gentlemen. Get to work." Kate dismissed them and opened the wall for them to leave only to have Howler step up to her.

"As I'm sure you know, having a women in charge of this expedition doesn't sit well with everyone." He'd already heard the grumbling increasing a little.

Kate knew that was going to be a problem when she had accepted this mission. "Does this include you?" If she lost him she was in big trouble.

Howler snapped to attention. "No, ma'am." He was no fool. Most of the men on this expedition thought with the brain between their legs. Women only had a single purpose and that was predominant thinking in their society. It was starting to change, but change came slowly. Kate was smart and he was willing to let her lead. At least until the enemy showed up.

"I'll try not to step on too many toes. I expect to be informed of any decisions you want to make when or if the Vree show up. I'm aware our military capability's limited. I'll also remind Medical to keep their eyes open. Another reason to let them examine everyone here," Kate told him even if she hadn't mentioned it when she had agreed to the suggestion from Medical.

"No air support, only light weapons." Howler shook his head. "If they show up in force we might be in trouble. We will do our job, though. Ma'am." Howler spun and left her.

Kate knew the men in the Military arm were some of the strongest and bravest of them. The types and locations of body piercings only emphasized just how strong each of them were. She herself didn't see the point and it actually made most of them look ugly to her. It was mostly why she had no one in her life. She'd even done all she could to make sure she didn't do something stupid and accidentally end up involved with someone.

It wasn't that she thought of herself as being lesbian, though she'd tried it a couple of times. No, she preferred having a man and having a man inside her. She just couldn't find one.

Then suddenly a male showed up at the doors. "Ma'am, we've got back a video of a Portal address that opened. You need to see this." He left her and Kate picked everything up and took it with her.

"Show me." She could see the Portal and what it showed, but they had cameras that could zoom in and out.

Kate watched the computer monitor for a while. What she initially saw was a lot of rocks. A whole lot of rocks. Then the probe went out a little farther and she could see that the rocks were a ring around a gas giant. It was interesting but not really anything to be excited about.

"These are the scans it's completed so far." The screen changed from visual to data. "A habitable planet. Mass is 5.972 x 10^24 kg. Distance from the sun is 92.96 million. Surface area is 196.9 million mi2, land area is 57.51 million mi2."

Kate only thought about it for a second. "Put it at the top of the list. The second we get a third shuttle working I want it sent. Two man crew only. I want a quick survey of that planet. Just a single pass then get back here."

"Yes, ma'am." Even he knew finding a possibly inhabited planet might be really big. Too big to pass up.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/

Kate met the pilots on the floor of the shuttle bay that was actually up 2 levels from where the control room was located.

"The planet's big and in a perfect position. Remember just the single pass. Don't go into the lower atmosphere. Do not answer any communications you receive from the planet. Get in, get out, and get back here. We'll decide what to do with what you find after you come back. No heroics. If you encounter the enemy get back here and try not to crash on this end." They'd all noticed that the space between the Portal and the first wall was really short.

"Yes, ma'am." Micheal didn't want to stay if the enemy was there either. So far as they could tell these shuttles came unarmed.

Kate went back to the control room and waited. Finally the ceiling opened and down in a hover mode came a shuttle. "Open the Portal for the target planet," Kate ordered. She watched it open and they could all see rocks on the other side. That was the first obstacle for these 2.

Then silently it went into the Portal and almost instantly vanished. Shortly after the Portal shut down. "Good luck." Kate didn't know if it would help but she offered it anyway.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/ - * \- \M/ - * -\M/

"Initial scan?" Micheal asked while he flew the shuttle using the controls in front of him. He could see out the front windshield as easily as his partner could for this mission.

"Scanning. We're leaving a gas giant that has large rings around it. It looks like the Portal's hidden inside the rings. A little strange. Maintain course for the target planet," Lee said.

They both sat there and watched as the target planet got closer and closer.

"I'm reading that there are a tremendous amount of communications emanating from the planet. So many that I can't tell if any of them are meant for us. Definitely an inhabited planet," Lee told him which made both of them happy.

Micheal was getting ready to set up for his shot around the planet and then head back.

"ENERGY SPIKE!" Lee yelled suddenly. "It's behind us. …Scanning. SHIT! It's a mothership." Now they were both scared. Worse, that ship was now between them and the Portal to get home.

"Definitely an enemy mothership. Length 5,545 meters long, width 3,970 meters wide (3 miles long x 2 miles wide). They're launching fighters. I think they've spotted us. We need to get out of here." They were dead at best since there was far worse when it came to them.

"What are you doing?" As far as Lee was concerned he was going the wrong way. The Portal was back that way.

"Slingshot. We increase to our best speed for the planet and use it as a slingshot; our speed will increase." They both knew the enemy's fighters were fast, possibly too fast for them.

"They launched only 12 fighters. All of them are headed for us," Lee advised. That was the good news since a mothership held 3,904 of them. However there was also bad news. "They're gaining on us. We need to go faster." Lee was beginning to panic. He knew what they were capable of doing.

"I'm going as fast as I can. I think I hate this planet." Micheal was starting to get worried. Still his plan was all they had.

"Energy spike," Lee announced. "SHIT! Another mothership has exited FTL. It's right behind the first one." That only increased their problem.

"Here we go!" Micheal was ready to start his slingshot around this cursed planet.

"Energy spike. The fighters are firing at us." No sooner had he said it when they both saw glowing stars shoot past them. Then one didn't shoot past them; it hit them in the ass.

"Hull breach!" Lee was up and grabbed something to seal it. No sooner than he started and they were hit again. This one killed all of the power which was about as bad as it got.

"Power's out," Micheal yelled just as sparks started flying from the ceiling. "Fix it or we're dead." And that was the good news.

Lee finished filling the hole then pulled the panel open and had wiring hanging all over the place. "This is bad, really bad." He reached for his case that contained all of his tools when they were hit again only this one was far worse.

They spun wildly and Micheal couldn't stop it without power. Then he heard a loud bang right behind his head. He turned to look and saw a wall right behind him that hadn't been there earlier. "GREAT!" He couldn't see Lee and now he wasn't answering him when he called to him.

What he could tell was that he was headed for the planet now in a free fall while tumbling the whole way. Then it got worse. One of the straps holding him in the chair snapped from the strain. It sent him head first into the ceiling and his world went black.


	8. Chapter 8

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 8_

"Now what, Dad?" Alexis wasn't quite sure what to do next.

"Call the cops, I guess." It was about all Rick could think of.

"And tell them that we found a little green man from Mars? They'll lock us up or just laugh at us." Alexis tried to keep her sense of humor. "What if he really is green?" It was almost all they had save for the patches on his clothes that they didn't recognize.

That had Rick looking at his daughter. The only way he really could be green with obviously red blood, was that he was an alien. "You do realize that you're suggesting that he's a real live alien, don't you?" As much as Rick loved the idea, he was in his serious mode. Granted it didn't happen all that often. Plus having a real live alien was a perfect opportunity for him.

"Except for his hair he's green, everything is green. He crashed in the lake in something. The green doesn't wash off. …So what do we do?" Alexis asked him again.

Rick looked at him again and sighed heavily. "Wait for him to wake up, I suppose. Hopefully he knows what happened to him and can tell us. Then we can call the cops. They can contact Hollywood and tell them he's here." It was all Rick had.

Alexis couldn't think of anything better so she just sat there silently, watching the green man lying in their bed.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

Micheal opened his eyes and groaned. Parts of him were hurting. He even reached for the part that hurt most. What he felt wasn't his uniform. Then his vision came into focus and everything was white, red, and totally alien-looking. His mind went straight to the fact that the enemy had him and that had him wishing he was dead.

Then he heard a voice yelling, except he didn't understand a word whoever it was said.

"DAD! He's awake!" Rick was outside cooking on the grill instead of cooking inside. Alexis stood at the door and made way for her dad to enter the RV and walk over to their guest.

He was clearly awake and looking at him. "How do you feel? Can you tell me who you are?" It would help to call whoever he wanted them to so they could come get him.

Micheal looked at him in shock. HE WAS PINK! All right, sort of _pinkish._ Save for his hair which looked more like his. The second shock was that he didn't understand a single thing he said. He was clearly talking to him but he didn't understand a word.

Still he tried to respond. "Who are you? Where am I?" It didn't look like the inside of the enemy's ship. Not that anyone knew what the inside looked like. At least not to see it and live to talk about it.

Rick didn't understand a word he said. Even worse it didn't sound like anything he had ever heard before. Not even some of those old cheap B science fiction movies sounded like this. Or the newer Star Wars movies, for that matter. He turned to look at his daughter. Maybe she understood him.

Alexis stepped forward and looked at him. What both of them saw was that he immediately relaxed, for lack of a better word.

Micheal saw someone else come up next to the man. This one, though, was a woman and she was drop-dead gorgeous. He didn't know what it was exactly. Her pale skin, her orange hair, or something else. But he was instantly in love. "Who are you? What is your name?" He looked right at her.

Rick and Alexis didn't understand any of it. "I don't understand a word, Dad. If it was me, I'd be asking who are you? What is your name? Or where am I?" Alexis looked at him and suddenly saw him as the most handsome man she had ever seen. "What is your name?" she tried this time.

_She's gorgeous! _Micheal found he couldn't help it. She was far too pretty to ignore. Micheal decided to concentrate on her. "You're gorgeous. What's your name?" He put a hand on his chest. "Micheal."

Alexis tilted her head. She didn't get any of what he said. Though she had a thought. "I think he just told us his name." She tried repeating it back to him. That made him smile and she thought he was even better looking now. "I'm going to try." She put a hand on her chest. "Alexis."

Micheal wasn't sure but he was betting she'd just told him her name. He tried it back at her and smiled wide.

"Hey, Dad, I think he gets it." Alexis was impressed. She put a hand on her dad. "Rick." She put her hand on her chest again. "Alexis."

That was when Micheal finally noticed something. She was almost flat chested! How was that even possible? No woman he had ever seen or even heard of was so flat chested. Changing skin color was one thing, but having her breasts removed or so reduced was going way too far. Suddenly this wasn't so funny like he had been thinking.

"You're real!" Micheal reached out to touch her and found her skin to be smooth and soft and irresistible. He couldn't stop himself. This might be his one and only chance. He lifted his hand and beckoned her closer to him.

Alexis understood the move and leaned down closer to him. It was just close enough for him. He lifted up and pressed his lips against hers. Two things happened almost simultaneously. One, the man yelled and two, the girl kissed him back before the man pulled them apart. Micheal immediately missed her lips but wasn't sorry he had done it.

Alexis was grinning. He'd kissed her and she had actually kissed him back. It wasn't technically her first time kissing a boy, but it was the best kiss she'd ever had.

"NO KISSING!" Rick informed Alexis. "Don't ever do that again!" He looked at Micheal.

Micheal and Alexis could only smile.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

Micheal had watched them turn his bed into a sofa and now he was sitting at a table and watching the girl cooking something. At least he was betting it was cooking since it smelled like cooking. The man was outside and left him alone with her.

"Alexis." He butchered her name and he knew it but it did get her attention. Like last time he motioned her closer to him and smiled when she got closer. Then he stood up, leaned across the table, and kissed her again. Like last time she kissed him back. Only this time the man wasn't here to stop him.

Alexis liked it when he kissed her, but she broke from the kiss before her dad stepped back inside and came into the kitchen. Though she did keep turning her head to look at him until her dad came back inside with the three steaks.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

Micheal took a deep breath. He wasn't sure what it was but it sure smelled good. Then he watched the other two use utensils to cut it and eat it. He copied what they did, then taste tested it and instantly moaned. He started cutting and eating faster.

"I think he likes it." Alexis smiled; she couldn't figure out just why that made her happy. Then she saw Dixie sniffing his leg. "Dixie, be nice."

That had Micheal looking down. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed the animal earlier. He blamed it on the gorgeous girl. Though he still couldn't get over that she had such a small chest. Maybe that was part of why he liked her so much. She was different.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

They'd tried taking to each other but none of them were getting anywhere. Now he was sitting on the sofa while the other two were sitting in chairs on the other side. He really wished the girl was sitting next to him. Then he watched as a screen came out of the ceiling and it came on.

He watched as what was on the screen kept changing until it finally stopped. There was some pale-skinned woman wearing all white who was saying something he didn't begin to understand.

"Pro-ressive." Michael tried copying what was being repeated all the time until suddenly it changed to something else. "What… What… What." He watched this pink boy use a stick to break something, he said something else, and what he broke went away after smashing into two other things. "All rate."

Alexis had been watching him and listening carefully. "I think he's learning from the TV. Maybe he really is an alien." He was getting the words wrong but he was close.

"Let's see what he thinks of this." Rick changed the channel until he found what he was looking for and left it there.

Micheal leaned forward and watched. It was totally alien. He saw two groups in different uniforms going up and down something that was mostly white save for a couple of blue lines and one red one. On each side was a person dressed more heavily and he was standing in front of some kind of white net.

They just kept going back and forth and each side wanted this black piece that they kept hitting with sticks. Then suddenly the black thing went into the net and a red light came on and everyone started screaming. He began repeating the same word they used. "Gool."

"It's pronounced GOAL. GOAL," Alexis corrected him.

He liked it when she talked to him so he tried again. "Goal."

They also kept showing things he couldn't read. He was guessing that was their writing but it was total gobbledygook to him. None of it made any sense.

What he didn't get was why all that stopped only to be replaced with a number of different things that were all fast and stupid-looking. There was even one that showed men and even a woman who were shooting; at least it looked like shooting. They were shooting sticks with pieces of white attached to them.

Then this thing all dressed in blue shoes up and talked. After that he turned away and left. Micheal tried it, "Bud Light."

"Bud Light. It's beer. Do you drink beer?" Alexis asked him then got up and walked past him. He wished she'd sat down next to him. He ignored the screen and watched her get something out of a cabinet that had a white interior and had a light inside along with a lot of things.

Now she came to him, holding something. "You're not giving him one of my beers, are you?" Rick wasn't really interested in losing one of his beers, even if the guy was green.

She rolled her eyes. "It's just one, Dad." She opened it for him and handed it to him. Micheal took it and was surprised that it was cold. He watched her mimic drinking it. He brought it up to his nose and smelled it. It was disgusting. Still he sipped it and almost spit out; he quickly handed it back to her.

"I think your beer is safe." Alexis laughed a little and set it on the table between her and her dad as she sat down. Rick wasn't going to drink it after some green alien had just had his lips on it.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

They were still going up and down this white floor hitting this black thing. However, he had a question that he needed an answer to. "Where did you find me?"

Naturally they didn't understand a word he was saying. So he tried to demonstrate he was flying, then he was crashing, and BAM. He hit one hand into the other.

"I think he wants to know where he crashed." It was the best she could come up with.

Alexis picked up the pad, turned off the TV and put it back up into the ceiling, then motioned for him to follow her. Dixie was right on her heels as she went outside. Going down the steps was easy for the pup, getting back up them, not so much.

Rick watched him get up and followed him outside. All four of them were soon standing at the edge of the lake. Alexis pointed at the lake. Then she mimicked what he did and slammed her hand into her other hand and pointed.

"I crashed in the water." That meant what was left of his shuttle was in that lake. There were a number of things in that shuttle he really needed if he was going to go home. Provided the enemy didn't find him first.

Micheal didn't bat an eye; he started running toward the water and waded out into the lake until he was deep enough to start swimming.

"Where are you going?" Alexis and even Rick stand there shocked as they watch him run to the lake. "He's nuts!" The alien had lost his mind.

"At least he won't be drinking any of my beer," Rick joked and winced at the glare his daughter gave him. Both of them stood there watching him swim out into the lake.

Micheal stopped; he really wasn't sure just where to go. It could be anywhere in this body of water so he looked toward shore where those two were standing. Then he saw the girl waving her arm so he swam that way. Finally he saw her point down so he took a deep breath and dove.

"It better be really important because it's probably really deep out there." Rick didn't think he could succeed without scuba gear. They watched as he surfaced only to go back down again and again.

It was getting dark out and the deeper he went, the darker it got. If he was going to get off this planet alive he needed to find what was left. He couldn't stay down all that long and he was getting kind of deep. Then he saw a sparkle of something. He went up, sucking in a lot of air, and diving straight for it. Once he reached it he didn't have much time.

He was staying too long but if he died down here it might be better. The enemy was here and being dead was far better. Then he grabbed both of them and kicked hard for the surface. He coughed and spat up water as he hung onto what he had found. Now he had to get to shore.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

Micheal was sitting at the table with his two things on the table and the man and the girl were standing across from him.

"What do you think they are? He almost killed himself getting them," Alexis commented and watched him work. Rick could only shrug.

Micheal opened the first one, placed a finger where it told him, and waited. The screen told him that he had been underwater too deep for too long so he took out an auto-injector and triggered it in his thigh.

"Jeez!" Alexis saw him inject something into himself. Since she hated needles it even hurt her a little.

Micheal opened the next one, pulled out the headset, and turned it on. "This is Ranger One, do you read? This is Ranger One, do you read? This is Ranger One, do you read?" When no one answered he shut it down and would try again later. The Portal needed to be open for them to hear him so he had to get lucky.

"I'll try again later." Micheal put it all away, sat back, and looked at who was with him now.

"They didn't answer him," Rick guessed.

"Communication. So what was the first one? Medical? Is he sick?" Were they in trouble because they had saved him? "Are you sick?" Alexis tried to mime sickness.

At first Micheal was concerned that the girl was sick and he needed to use it on her. Then it hit him that she was asking him if he was sick. He shook his head. "I'm fine or at least I will be. …Especially if they respond when I call."

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

They gave him a bed to sleep on and he found that it was actually soft and quite comfortable. They then showed him a room that was tiny. They demonstrated by tuning on the shower, then the sink, and flushing the toilet until he figured it out. He went inside and closed the door, used the toilet, and came back out after washing.

"Thanks, I needed that," Micheal said.

Now he was sitting on his bed. The man was way in back and he had seen where the girl was sleeping just the other side of that sliding door.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

It was dark and Micheal was awake and couldn't get to sleep. He had crashed here and the enemy was near. He also couldn't sleep because of the girl who was just the other side of the door.

He got up, carefully slid the door open, and saw her looking at him. He was still dressed in his uniform since it was all he had. She had obviously changed into something else.

"Can't sleep?" Alexis asked as he moved to her head. She really couldn't stop herself. She leaned forward and soon found herself kissing him and being kissed back. She knew she shouldn't but she got out of bed, closed her door behind her and took Dixie with her, and sat down on his bed. When he kissed her she kissed him back.

She even placed her arms around him and felt his hand rest on her chest. She really wished once again that she had bigger breasts. But it didn't seem to stop him from touching her.

\M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/ - * - \M/

Rick rolled over and looked at the clock. It was all of four o'clock. He was wide awake and knew he wasn't going to get back to sleep. So he got up and slowly slid the pocket door open between his bedroom and Alexis's. When he didn't see her or Dixie he panicked and opened the next pocket door suddenly and almost slammed it shut. When he got it open again he saw the two of them sitting the captain's chairs and the TV was on. Dixie was in Alexis's lap. Alexis was wearing a sleep shirt while he was still in his clothes.

"DAD! He's learning English!" Alexis thought he was making great strides. There was also no way she was telling him what they'd done before she turned the TV back on and began trying to teach him English. Though she was looking forward to doing it again.


	9. Chapter 9

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 9_

Kate was still in the Control Room. It was starting to feel like she lived there. Even if out of all the control panels or terminals that were here only 1 was working.

"Where is Ranger One?" They should be back by now. Being late wasn't bad but it was worth worrying about. They only had just so many people here and she couldn't afford to lose even 1 of them.

"They haven't returned yet, ma'am. The first check in isn't do for another hour," Kate was told.

She didn't know why but something was niggling at her and she needed an answer. "Open the Portal and contact them. I want an update."

"Yes, ma'am." He started pressing panels until suddenly there was something to see in the Portal. "Sending signal and commencing scan." It was how they had found the planet in the first place.

"MA'AM!" What he saw drained the blood from his face.

Kate bent down to look at his computer screen. "SHIT! Shut it down." It wasn't what she needed to see. "Find Howler and get him up here." He was the leader of the military part of this expedition and this was going to concern him.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Howler entered the Bridge and walked over to her. "You wanted me?"

"Show him." Kate didn't think she needed to explain it when seeing it for himself was more than enough.

Howler looked it over, read it all, then stood up and closed his eyes for a moment. "Nothing on our 2 and our target planet has 2 motherships in orbit." They both knew what was going to come next and it wasn't good.

"Our numbers are limited and we can't afford to lose anyone. I need a plan that gives us a chance to find out what happen to those 2 _without _losing anyone else. We will keep the Portal open the entire time if we have to.

"I want a plan put together and submitted for approval. You have 24 hours. If they get too close to the Portal we _will_ be forced to shut down and leave everyone behind. Something we can't afford to do," Kate said.

"Ma'am." Howler stood at attention and headed for one of his scout groups. Together they would come up with a plan for her to approve.

"Two motherships." The crewman in front of her manning the console almost couldn't believe it.

"Easy, we're safe and they aren't dead yet. They need the address for this Portal in order to use it to reach us. We also need to make sure they don't physically find us." They had no ships of their own and if they hadn't found those shuttles they wouldn't have anything.

"Go back to dialing other Portals at random. We need a place to fall back to if we have to." Kate really wanted to keep this place. It was far more advanced than any city she'd ever heard of. They hadn't even yet worked out what the city was made of.

Most of the doors opened by motion sensors. Though a lot of doors required you to scan a hand over a panel to get them to open. These doors were more solid and thicker than the other doors. They were effectively bulkheads that could shut off certain areas from other areas.

They also still had a long ways to go in searching the rest of the city.

"Keep me apprised. I'm going to go inform Medical and find out how the examinations are going." Kate left him to his job.

"Yes, ma'am." He got to work pressing panels at random and got nothing again and again.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"Doctor Heuer." Kate found him with no trouble. "I need an update on how the examinations are going. Our target planet presently has 2 motherships in orbit." She watched him visibly deflate. It wasn't news he was wanting to hear, of that she was certain.

"We're about two-thirds at this time. Since you're here we can do you next," the doctor informed her.

"I have a lot of work to do, it'll have to wait." Kate tried to back out for the moment. She would come back later.

Heuer decided to pull rank on her. "As lead medical officer I can order you to stay and undergo the tests. So what's it going to be, ma'am?"

Kate wanted to be angry, except she knew he was right. He had the authority and since she was a woman she didn't need anyone in the team thinking she needed to be replaced by a man. She sighed. "I'm all yours, Doctor." He won this one.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Rick had retreated to his room and then into the shower. When he came back out he found Alexis was dressed and their guest was still in his chair watching TV. Rick chose to let him watch and started making breakfast.

Alexis was back. She picked up Dixie, ducked under the TV, and went outside so Dixie could do her thing. While she was out she walked around a little and even looked over the cabin that wasn't too far away. It looked closed and empty to her. Then she was standing at the edge of the lake, looking out. It seemed like no one else had seen what they had seen, or at least they weren't acting on it.

By the time Alexis was back in the RV she found him sitting at the table eating what her dad had made for him. Alexis got out Dixie's food and fed her before sitting down next to him and eating her dad's marvelous pancakes.

"If I have it right, he says his name is Micheal," Alexis told her dad. "He really is green. All of his people are green. It seems he had never seen anyone with our skin color. Or blacks or Asian or Native American. He says they call themselves Orions."

"Good." Michael liked breakfast almost as much as he had liked last night's dinner.

"What are those things?" Rick pointed at the two things Micheal had gone out into the lake to retrieve.

Micheal beat Alexis to it. He pointed to the first one. "Medical." He pointed at the other one and said, "Communications. I need to use, please." He wanted Alexis to get up so he could reach one of them.

Micheal brought out the headset and turned on the device. This time he didn't try to use English. "Ranger One, come in. This is Ranger One, come in please." He listened for a minute then shut it down. With motherships in the area he couldn't afford to use it for long or they'd find him. He would try again in a few hours.

Rick was done eating and was willing to wait to clean up his mess. "Why are you here?" Did he understand that question.

"Paper?" He showed that he wanted to write or draw something.

Alexis retrieved some paper and a pencil for him to use. They both watched as he began to draw something. They had no scale to judge how big it was. It had a ring that was round and it had simple lines on it all around the edge.

"Portal. You travel through and go anywhere. There is 1 far out there." He pointed at the ceiling.

"Dad?" It was different looking but she saw a similarity.

"I see it. …Go on." Rick wasn't willing to give him any information that he didn't have to just yet.

"We came to see. We were shot. Enemy is big and powerful." Far more powerful than they were.

"Who is enemy?" Rick questioned and started to wonder if he was going to say what he thought he was.

"Enemy. They not look like us or you. They use body to plant egg(s). Egg…breaks and worm travels through blood." He used his hands to try and show that it went everywhere. "Painful. Then it lands here." He twisted his body and pointed to the lower end of his spinal column. "It eats up body and comes out here." He opened his mouth to show where it came out. "It grows and plants eggs. Others attack and capture for eggs to be…" He didn't know the word and tried to show inaction into a body. "Three types: leaders, workers, and soldiers. There are…" He couldn't translate the number into English. "Many. Very many."

"I thought sure he was going to say Wraith, that they sucked the life out of you, and that Portal was a Stargate," Rick said to Alexis.

"Star…gate?" This was a new word for Micheal.

"So did I." Alexis agreed. "I think we have a DVD we could show him. It's only about 2 hours long, I think. Might be worth it."

"Find it, we're not going anywhere." Rick was willing to watch it and see what his reaction was.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Micheal watched the movie for several reasons. It was how he was learning their language and he was curious as to why they wanted him to see it.

When the Stargate came up he began nodding his head and then shaking it. "Different." It was close, though. He didn't see the reason for the whoosh of water forcing itself out and then settling into something you couldn't see through. Theirs didn't spin like this one did, either.

Michael cringed when he saw his first Wraith and even more so when it slammed its hand on someone's chest and sucked out his life. "No, eggs." The enemy didn't do this. Then he saw something that was far too familiar. "Mothership."

"That is a Wraith Hive ship. It carries several cruisers and hundreds of darts," Alexis said.

Micheal shook his head. "Mothership! Two." And he pointed up at the ceiling.

That had Alexis opening her eyes wide. "DAD?" Was he thinking what she was?

"Turn it off and turn on the TV. See if you can find a news channel." If he was understanding correctly, Micheal was telling them that there were 2 motherships in orbit right now.

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Turned out it wasn't that hard. Every channel was talking about there being 2 massive alien ships in orbit. "Sources have confirmed that each ship is roughly 3 miles long," the female on TV relayed to them.

"We're in trouble, Dad." They had nothing that could even dent a ship in orbit let alone one that big. "If all they do is plant eggs in us how did they get so smart?" They had FTL, they had the knowledge to make a ship this big, and lord knows what else they had.

Micheal wasn't sure he totally understood, but he thought he had it. "They steal." They didn't actually make anything. They used what they found.

"So these aren't really their ships. They stole them. That might give us an edge." Alexis was trying to think.

Rick looked at her like she was out of her mind. "How do we get an edge on alien ships that are 3 miles long?"

Alexis tried to get her dad to see what she was thinking. "If they stole that ship and didn't make it, that means they likely can't repair the damage it sustains. Do enough damage to it and it'll blow up on its own."

"Great, that still leaves us with how do we damage something 3 miles long enough to force it to blow up. How do we do any damage to it at all?" It took a lot of work just to get satellites into orbit let alone anything else.

"So there's a tiny flaw in the plan," Alexis admitted and then turned to look at Micheal. "Try again." She pointed at his communication box and watched as he sent out a call and got nothing in return.

"Now what, Dad?" Alexis was out of ideas.

"We're civilians. Who do we contact and why do they listen to us?" Rick responded and then both of them looked at Micheal.

"We can't!" Alexis said. "If they don't kill him, they'll lock him up and he'll never be free again. It'll take a lot just to get them to believe he didn't come from one of those ships. That he isn't the enemy."

Then suddenly the TV stopped working. Rick used the remote and began flipping through channels but there was nothing on any of them. "I think it's working, it just isn't getting anything." Rick turned it off and stowed it back in the ceiling.

"Radio." Alexis suggested and followed her dad outside to the outdoor entertainment system. As strange as it sounded it was the only radio they had. Micheal went with them since he was curious what a radio was.

Rick turned it on and they instantly got an announcer talking about the ships in orbit. "So the radio still works but the TV doesn't. Is it our dish?" Rick began backing up so he could try and see it.

"The TV works because we have a dish. We get a signal from satellites." Suddenly even more pale, Alexis blurted, "They shot down our satellites."

Rick's jaw dropped. "All of them?" he asked in disbelief. After all there were a lot of satellites in orbit doing all kinds of things. Weather, communications, GPS, spy satellites just to name a few.

"You can go to the Lodge and find out if they lost everything, too. Plus the Mini has GPS to get you there and back. If it works that will tell us something," Alexis said.

It made sense to Rick but there was just one problem with this plan. He looked at Micheal since it meant leaving him alone with his daughter until he got back.

Alexis looked where her dad was looking. "What's he going to do, Dad? Put an egg inside me? If he wanted to kill us he could have killed us both last night." Actually he had done the exact opposite with her last night. Alexis turned her back on her dad to hide the smile that she couldn't keep off her face.

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"I'll make this really quick. Call me if you need something." Rick was in the Mini and was ready to leave.

"You could get us a pizza for lunch." There was after all a grill and pizzeria near the Lodge.

"Half all meat and half Hawaiian." Rick suddenly craved some pizza. "We can make more ice cream when I get back."

"Now that's the dad I know and love." Alexis couldn't wait for pizza and homemade ice cream.

Rick started the car and waited for the GPS to power up. All he got was _unable to acquire satellite. _"Guess that answers that question."

"Pay attention to where you're going. Don't get lost. Turn right, go across the bridge, turn right until you see the Lodge and come back the same way. It should be simple, even for you." Alexis smiled wide as she teased him.

"Oh, you're funny. Thirty, maybe 45 minutes." It was going to take 15 minutes just to make the pizza.

"We'll be here. Love you." They were separating and Alexis couldn't help but think of things that could go wrong. She was her father's daughter, after all.

"Love you, too. Be right back with pizza." Rick told her and watched her for a moment as she looked for Dixie to make sure she wasn't about to get run over.

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Rick was gone and they were back inside the RV. Alexis saw him pull out his headset but stopped him by putting a hand on his. "Can the enemy hear you?" She pointed at her ears. "Can they use this to find you here?" She pointed at the floor.

Micheal thought about it. "SHIT!" He put the headset back in place. He needed to be careful when he used it. But if he didn't try it often enough, he couldn't contact them. He had no idea when the Portal would be open so that they could hear him.

"You smart." Micheal was impressed with her. She wasn't just gorgeous, she had a heck of a brain, too.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Alexis smiled at him as he got up and stepped up close to her. Then he was kissing her and she was kissing him back. She wasn't thinking about how badly she wanted to kiss him as the kisses got more passionate. Then she felt his hand on her chest. It made her wish once again that she wasn't so small-busted.

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Her clothes were off and his clothes were off. She was sitting on the edge of the sofa and was watching as he got down between her legs. She was soaking wet and so wanted him. Then she felt his tongue touch her outer lips and she moaned.

Alexis grabbed handfuls of his hair and held his head in place. It felt so damn good. She had read about this. She and some of her friends had watched a porno movie and had seen this, but seeing and reading were nothing compared to feeling it.

"SHIT, YES!" He needed to not stop, to never stop. Then suddenly she felt a finger enter her. "OH MY GOD!" She felt the finger going in and out while he licked her core. "SHIT, YES! Don't stop, please don't stop." She had never felt like this before in her life. She so wanted this. "YEEESSS!" Alexis screamed as she climaxed and felt him still licking her outer lips. It wasn't her first orgasm. She had used her fingers to give herself more than one orgasm in the past. But this was a first and she had loved it.

Micheal sat back and watched as she calmed down and looked at her pussy. She was still soaking wet and the hair around her pussy matched the hair on her head. If anything they were a lighter color. To the point that they were almost invisible. He was still fascinated by her pale skin and orange-colored hair.

Alexis was calm and looked down at him staring at her. Staring at her pussy to be precise. She got up then got down on her knees so she could kiss him. She found that this kiss tasted different. _So this is what I taste like._

Micheal broke from the kiss and stood up; now Alexis found his cock right in front of her face. It wasn't as big as those in the porno movie or some of the pictures she'd seen, but it did look nice and it was green.

She couldn't help but start stroking it before taking it into her mouth. Even his cock tasted interesting. She choked on it when too much of it was in her mouth. It forced her to switch to licking the entire length instead.

Then she felt him lift her up, move her to the dinette table, and push her down onto it. This exposed her ass to him. She had read about and seen in a porn movie about being taken in the ass. She really didn't want that.

Instead she felt his cock touch the lips of her core. He was going to take her. She was about to lose her cherry. He was going to get her virginity. Amazingly she wasn't scared, she wanted this.

Then she felt him press and was stopped by her hymen. Alexis knew this was going to hurt for a moment and she felt him press a little harder until finally he shoved. She cried out a little. It did indeed hurt. Thankfully it was only going to hurt like this once.

Alexis knew from one of her doctor's visits that she had a septate hymen. Meaning her vaginal opening had a thin piece of hymen tissue running down the middle. When she finally had intercourse the penis was going to break it, not just stretch it, and that it was going to hurt.

Micheal knew what he had just done and he was honored to have taken her virginity. It also had him going slower than he really wanted to. What he wanted to do was start ramming himself in and out of her until he climaxed. Instead he started stroking slowly. Out and then back in. It wasn't until he was sure she was enjoying it that he sped up.

The pain was gone and he was really pounding against her. She could hear his flesh slapping against hers. She was being fucked and it felt great. Then he slapped her ass. That had her crying out and turning her head to look at him.

He was standing behind her with his hands on her hips and was pulling back and then plunging back in. Then he slapped her ass again. It was pain and pleasure and she quickly found it exciting.

"Again." She wanted him to slap her again just as he plunged into her. "SHIT!" This time she felt her orgasm building up.

Micheal worked up into a rhythm. He would pull out and plunge back in and on the second plunge he would slap her ass. She cried out in a sound that he took to mean that she liked it. She might be an alien but she was having sex like an Orion woman.

Then Micheal moaned, plunged deep inside her, and climaxed inside her. He rested by leaning down onto her back and started kissing her back. He let his cock slip out of her and turned her around and pushed her down. Alexis took the hint and started licking his cock that had her all over it. It tasted different.

Then she heard a car. "DAD!" He would kill both of them for this. Alexis stood up and gathered up her clothes and put on her panties. "Don't just stand there put your clothes on. Dad will kill both of us." She picked up his clothes and pushed him into her room and closed the door.

She skipped putting on her bra; she stuffed it under the sofa cushion and would get it out later. She left her shoes and socks off and opened a cabinet where she pulled out a can of Febreze and began spraying.

She didn't know for a fact that sex created smells but she'd read about it. If her dad smelled sex they were still both dead.

Alexis hid the Febreze behind her back. "Hi, Dad." She tried to look innocent even if she had been anything but. "Pizza!" She could smell it even over all the Febreze she had just sprayed.

Then she saw a spot of blood on the tile floor. She ripped off some paper towels and was down on the floor cleaning it up. "Spilled something."

Micheal opened the door and saw Alexis on the floor wiping up blood. The male stood there holding something and then the smell of pizza hit him. "What that?" Micheal pointed at what Rick was holding, hoping to distract him from asking about the blood.


	10. Chapter 10

**RV Summer**

**As normal guests who don't like what they read should just stop reading and stop talking. Especially when they are so very wrong! So if you are a guest SILENCE IS GOLDEN and preferred.**

_Chapter 10_

Kate was sitting in the conference room going over the report on the islands that their survey teams had found. It turned out the planet they were on was actually a moon orbiting a gas giant. The system they were in didn't have a large habitable planet save for this moon. In addition their moon was almost 80% water. The land was broken up into 3 separate islands that were all located in the same area.

One island was an active volcano site. Another was almost all mountains. However the third, while it did have a high hill, was clearly older and had a lot of fertile volcanic soil, perfect for cultivation. They had even tested several of the plants that they thought would be good for them.

Right now she was working up a list of people to be transferred to the land mass to be farmers. Unfortunately only a few of them knew anything about farming. Nor did they have any equipment.

Then someone entered her conference room. "Ma'am, the shuttle crew is ready," Kate was told. She gathered up everything and followed him out into the Control Room even if they still only had the single operational station.

"We haven't been able to contact the original crew for the planet. I want you to go through the Portal, do a quick scan, and report back. Based on what you find we'll decide what to do next. Get going." This was risky but if there was a chance to get 2 of her people back she wanted to take it.

Kate watched the ceiling open. "Open the Portal and keep it open." Then she watched it line up with the Portal, go through it and miss the rocks that were in the area, and disappear. Now she had to wait. Then a thought hit her. "Have Howler report to the Control Room, please." If the shuttle had been lost to combat she needed him here.

She waited and saw Howler show up as all of them waited. "This is Ranger Four. Scans show 2 motherships in orbit of the target planet. Both ships are launching hundreds of fighters at this time. Scans show no residual debris of the shuttle. Awaiting orders."

Kate moaned and looked at Howler. One mothership was far beyond what they were capable of dealing with let alone 2.

"We lose a possible back up planet to retreat to." They were back to square 1, down 2 people and 1 of a limited number of shuttles.

Howler didn't ask since his question was military in nature so he had the authority. "Ranger Four, scan the area and determine exactly where in the galaxy you are presently located."

Then he turned to Kate and explained himself. "We need to find another planet, I understand that. However, we need that planet to not be where the enemy's located. We know where our home was and where they came from."

Kate easily followed him. "We need a planet as far away as possible." She nodded approvingly. "Proceed Ranger Four." Then she had a thought. "Ranger Four, proceed to the opposite side of the planet that the Portal's on and hold position when the scan's complete." She turned to Howler. "I want 1 last communication attempt before we abandon them to their fate. If or when they're spotted they can use the rings to hide their position as they make their way to the Portal and escape back here."

Howler nodded his agreement. It was sound enough for him and he knew they needed people. "You know if the enemy sent 2 motherships it's likely that that planet's inhabited."

Kate followed his thinking. "How many shuttles are presently operational?" They were small and could only handle just so many people.

"Just the 3, ma'am. One's presently on the land mass and the other's doing the survey and scan of our system as ordered," Howler replied.

Kate argued her position to just leave the planet to its fate. "We don't even know if the inhabitants of that planet are compatible with us. For all we know they're lizards and have more in common with the enemy than us."

"Except they're about to be overrun by the enemy," Howler pointed out. _The enemy of our enemy is our friend_ kind of thinking.

"What are the chances they're advanced enough to stop them?" Kate was willing to dream.

That had Howler thinking. In the end he simply shrugged.

"We are receiving scan data, ma'am." He put it on his computer screen and Kate and Howler leaned in to look.

Howler shook his head. "They were doomed before we even found them." They were 1 system over. "We need to find a planet over here somewhere. We need to get lucky." They were using an address for the Portal at random and so far they hadn't connected to anything. It was why they liked this planet.

"Ranger Four assume position and await orders," Kate commanded.

"Two motherships with 3,900 fighters each and just over 100,000 on each ship. The size of the planet would suggest they could have millions or even billions. Are 2 enough?" Kate wasn't Military, though she knew her home planet had been overrun by dozens of these ships.

"Depends. Are they living in caves? Do they even have a military? How advanced are they really? Does their planet fight as one? Are they even capable of that? There were 48 motherships at our home and we didn't destroy a single one of them." Howler was betting they couldn't.

Kate thought about it all. "If they were advanced enough you would think that they would have found the Portal and would be using it." She sighed and tried to think what she was willing to risk.

"Ranger Four, begin transmissions to contact Ranger One. The second you see a single fighter head your way cease transmitting and make your way back to the Portal. Use the rings to try and hide behind them. Once you're through the Portal we'll shut down and abandon the search."

She was willing to give them a chance but also willing to abandon them. If they crashed on the planet and lived but couldn't communicate they would have to take their chances with the enemy and the locals.

Kate and Howler waited and listened.

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"Is that blood?" Rick had seen it and he didn't care about the pizza any longer.

"Spilled something," Alexis answered.

"Injury," Micheal said at the same time.

Alexis had to think fast. "Don't freak out, Dad. He had an injury that we missed and it's just a little blood. It's not like his blood is green or looks like Pepto-Bismol. It's just as red as ours is."

Actually Rick had been ready to freak out. If this alien had hurt his daughter he was going to kill him. Okay, maybe not actually kill him but he would call someone and have them come get him. And if they locked him up and dissected him, so be it.

"Pizza." Alexis wanted off this subject since it was her blood that was on the floor.

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Micheal wasn't sure just what this was. He had never seen anything like it. It looked like it was divided up into 2 different things. "Try 1 of mine, I can't eat all of it anyway." Alexis gave him a slice of her Hawaiian.

He watched the other 2 eat it so he took a bite and his eyes shot open. It was different so he took a second bite. Alexis was still working on her first slice while Rick was on his second when Micheal finished his. Alexis gave up another slice since she only ever ate 2 slices anyway. Her dad was more than capable of eating all of his half.

"What did you learn, Dad?" He hadn't left just to get pizza.

"All the channels are down. They didn't know why. A phone call only got them an apology and assurances that they were working on it," Rick replied.

Alexis shook her head. They had cell phones and it hadn't even occurred to her to call someone, not that she had their number. "I guess that leaves us with the radio. Sun spot maybe? Solar flare?"

Micheal knew better. "Enemy." He was sure of it and it frightened him to his core. He knew what they did to people and he didn't want to die that way.

"Independence Day," Alexis said since it was beginning to sound like it.

"That was a movie. We always win in a movie." Rick was starting to get worried. No satellites meant no communications with anyone. No way to coordinate attacks with other nations. The United States and others might be on their own.

"Radio, Dad?" It was off and since it was all they had it needed to be on.

Rick got up, picked up the pizza, and went outside. That was where the radio was so outside was where they were going to listen.

Alexis stopped Micheal. "Bring that thing." She pointed to his communication device. It and the radio was all they had.

They listened and ate and all they heard was a whole lot of talk. Rick got up, went inside, and came back with a beer and 2 Diet Cokes. Michael had shown that he didn't like beer so his beer was safe.

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Finally the radio station they were listening to had heard something. "Sources report that 1 alien ship is located over somewhere in Africa. Correction, we are learning that it's far above Cairo, Egypt. The other ship's high over the border between Poland and Belarus. It's been said that each ship is roughly 3 miles long. We don't know if they had made contact with anyone in any nation.

"We are also hearing reports of rioting in a few major US cities. We have learned that all satellite communication is down. It's _not_ your TV or the broadcaster. We don't know for certain what has happened."

"What's that blinking?" Alexis pointed to Micheal's communication device since there was a blinking light.

That had Micheal taking out the headset and started speaking very quickly in a language they couldn't begin to understand. Alexis got up to turn down the volume on the radio. They both listened to him talking into the device.

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"We have a signal from Ranger Four," Kate and Howler were informed.

"Let's hear it." Kate prayed that it was good news, not that the enemy had spotted them and were sending fighters toward them.

"We've established contact with Ranger One. Micheal is the only member to survive. He indicates that they were attacked by enemy fighters. The shuttle was heavily damaged and Lee was killed. He's crashed on the planet and is presently in conversation with 2 natives. A man and his daughter. They are not a threat."

Kate sighed and let out the breath she was holding. "Does he know if the natives are capable of defeating the enemy?" Meaning had they found an ally if they made contact with them.

There was a delay that lasted longer than either of them liked.

"He stated that their technology is restricted to atmosphere. They have no space capabilities of any kind. He does state that the planet is heavily militarized in certain areas. All of the planet's satellites for planetary communications have already been eliminated," they were both told finally.

"SHIT!" Howler wrote off the entire planet with that report and stepped back.

Kate wasn't willing to write Micheal off just yet. "Does he know where the motherships are in relation to where he is?" Maybe they had an opening.

She waited and listened to nothing.

"He says the locals know the motherships are above places called Africa and Poland. He says the locals tell him that both locations are thousands of miles from his present location. Ma'am, he says that this planet has a natural satellite that we might be able to use." That had Kate looking at Howler.

"It depends on where this satellite is in relation to his location. Still it might work. If the shuttle reaches the satellite undetected then flies really low to his location they could do the same to escape," Howler posited then turned to the station. "We need to know exactly where all of their fighters are right now." Maybe there was a blind spot the shuttle could use.

"Scanning," was the quick response. "All fighters appear to be directly below the motherships. He's given us his position and he's located almost directly on the opposite side."

Howler glanced at Kate. "It might work. They use the satellite to hide behind if they come in from that direction. Then plummet down low into the atmosphere and head for his position. It's a risk. If it fails we lose 2 more men and 1 more shuttle that we have very few of." Actually losing anyone else would be a blow let alone another shuttle.

Kate didn't hesitate. "Send them and have them bring back the natives with him."

That had Howler looking at her with a question. "Information. They have it and we don't. They know their planet and we don't." Kate turned her attention back to the communication station. "Have him describe the locals." If they looked anything like the enemy she was going to counter that idea.

"He stated that they look similar to us however their skin is pinkish."

"WHAT?" Howler hadn't been expecting that.

"PINK?" Kate started trying to visualize what a pink person looked like.

New information was added. "He stated that they're both friendly and not a threat. Neither of them are armed."

"Send them and have them bring those 2 with them. I have questions that need answers." Kate didn't hesitate. She left the details to Howler since it was more his area of expertise.

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Micheal turned to Alexis. "My people come to get me." He patted his chest.

"What about those ships?" Alexis pointed up. If he was shot down wouldn't they get shot down just as easily?

Micheal shook his head. "Plan, they will signal." He needed to keep his unit active and wait. "You come." He pointed to both of them.

"I think he means he wants us to go with him, Dad." Alexis stared at her father, waiting for his answer.

"To an alien planet?" He admitted that visiting his planet had a certain appeal. But what if they couldn't come back home?

"Enemy will kill all." Micheal wanted at least Alexis to come with him.

"You are assuming that we'll lose. This planet will fight." Rick was sure of that.

Alexis looked at Micheal, needing an answer. "There are 2 now." She held up 2 fingers. "How many are there?"

Micheal had to think about that; it wasn't just so many ships the enemy had but how to tell them or show them. He decided to hold up 2 fingers then take them away and do it again and again and again until he reached the number he wanted.

"Great!" Rick knew how to count.

"Thirty-eight motherships. …That's a lot, Dad. If they really are 3 miles long just how many of them are in each 1? Our aircraft carriers have what, 6,000 per ship and it's a fraction of the size. Just to get here says technology that we don't have." Alexis was finally scared.

"Independence Day only this time we lose." Rick didn't like their odds. "But there are just 2 now. If we can handle these 2 and they come 2 at a time…" Rick tried to see the silver lining.

"And we lose how many winning? How long do we have to recover each time?" Alexis queried. "I think we should be packing. Or we stay and fight." It was up to him. She would do whatever he chose, but she was going to give him her opinion.

Rick sat back and stopped listening to everyone. He had one little hand gun with just a few rounds of ammunition. Granted he did know how to use it, but he'd never killed anyone. He knew he would kill anyone that tried to kill his daughter, but when it came right down to it, what would he really do?

"Thirty-eight." It meant they had to believe an alien but so far he hadn't shown he was a liar.

"Is it safer there?" If it wasn't they might as well stay and take their chances.

Micheal understood the word safe easily enough. Just how did he explain what life was going to be like there. "We are few. We lost and escaped. Life difficult. It is safe." Did that answer his question?

"He's the only one that understands us, isn't he? No one else there will understand a word we say or us, them." Rick tried to think this through.

"We taught him, we can teach them. Or we need to learn," Alexis said firmly.

Rick was almost ready to laugh that off. He was too old to learn another language or at least that was what he was thinking. Still, if he had to he could manage a few words. Enough to get by, maybe.

"What do we pack? We don't have suitcases. We left those at home. I just bought this." It meant leaving his brand new RV behind and likely never seeing it again. He was dying here.

Alexis smiled. Her dad had just said they were going with Micheal and get away from the aliens that were probably presently attacking their planet. Just not where they were.

"Blankets, maybe. Pillow cases?" It was all she could think of. Then she stepped up to him and hugged him. "Thanks, Daddy." Deep down she knew if they stayed here they were dead.

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Ranger Four was running silent. They had been given an order and a plan. Go way around and approach the natural satellite then head straight for the planet from there. Straight down, then travel as fast as possible to reach his site. Load everyone and go back the same way. Enter through the Portal that was going to remain open for them and get home.

They couldn't even scan to make sure they were safe. It would announce exactly where they were and enable the enemy to send fighters toward them and shoot them down. Their little shuttle was no match for them.

"Here we go." They had reached that natural satellite with no issues. They couldn't really do an active scan but that didn't mean they didn't see the motherships and the fighters that were coming and going until they were on the far side.

Now they were leaving the satellite and plummeting toward the planet. They leveled out just above the water over a huge body of water and headed for land as fast as they could.

"There are contacts all over the place. A few are headed away from the landmass while others are traveling across the landmass. Average speed for almost all of them is 870 to 990 Km. Far slower than us," Bennington reported.

"So, not fighters. Civilian traffic, maybe?" Heinz suggested and just kept flying. It didn't make a whole lot of sense if their planet was being attacked. Or maybe these people were just dense.

"Coming up on target. Opening communication." They needed to risk it since they needed to know exactly where to go. "He can see us. Straight ahead. There," he pointed and they both saw three people. One was Orion and clearly Micheal while the other two were pinkish in color.

Heinz spun them while Bennington got up, opened the back ramp, and watched as the 3 of them ran in. Two of them were carrying bundles in both hands. He closed the ramp and headed back for his seat. He couldn't help but look at the two aliens as well as what came in on its own that he started to kick to get it back out only to have one of the aliens yell at him, drop her bundles, and pick it up, wrapping her arms around it. She scolded him. "You leave Dixie alone. My Dixie's a good girl." There was no way in hell Alexis was leaving her puppy behind.

They both had pinkish skin. One, a male, had dark hair while the other was clearly female with long orange-colored hair. Both of them were like nothing he had ever seen before. The whatever it was, was in the arms of the one with orange hair and it was a golden and white in color.

"Get us out of here." They weren't safe yet.


	11. Chapter 11

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 11_

Neither Rick nor Alexis dared say anything or even move for fear of getting in the way. What they were in looked a little familiar but they kept their mouths shut.

The back ramp had closed and they found themselves in a storage area. At least that was what Rick thought it was. It had benches on both sides to sit on but it felt more like a cargo bay. The only real seats were the 2 at the front.

What eventually had both of their attention was the fact that the front was glass and they could see out and see where they were going. Right now all they saw was black with stars in the distance.

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It had been a while and still all they saw was black. Rick couldn't stay silent any longer. "Where are we going?"

"Safe," Micheal answered. Then he made a fist in one hand and used the other to circle it. "We go around."

"I think he means we're going around Earth, though just where exactly we're going I have no idea. But we're in space, Dad." Alexis couldn't help but grin at that.

Rick went back to looking out at the blackness of space and finally let himself start to grin. They were actually in space. "You think we can ask them to pass over the space on the moon I bought?" He turned to look at his daughter and saw her roll her eyes at him.

There really wasn't all that much to see and it didn't help that the three green aliens kept speaking in a language that they didn't understand.

"DAD! That's Saturn." Alexis saw a glimpse of it and as they watched it came front and center as they kept going. What neither of them could figure out was why come to this planet?

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Kate and Howler hadn't left the Control Room since they had sent Ranger Four to pick up Ranger One and 2 aliens. The time it was taking was beginning to get to Kate. They really couldn't afford to lose 2 more people and another shuttle. "Anything yet?" She knew they couldn't signal them until they felt safe. They were also supposed to signal if they weren't going to make it.

"Nothing yet, ma'am." Willian was just as anxious as she was. This needed to work.

Kate had been standing too long and her feet were starting to hurt but she refused to move and sit down. She was needed here.

"Ma'am, Ranger Four is checking in," Willian suddenly announced.

"Put them on." Kate wanted to talk to them. "Report!"

"We have all 3 people and 1 animal. We've left the target planet and are approaching the Portal. Estimating 10 minutes remaining. No injuries and no damage. It would appear that the enemy is presently concentrating on 1 side of the planet. Only 2 motherships are involved at this time."

"Ten minutes. Get your security team ready." They had 2 aliens coming. "One animal?"

Howler was happy for the order. He was going to do it anyway but he was pleased that Kate was thinking it. "We'll be ready." Howler left her to assemble his security team and lead it. Those 2 aliens did anything stupid and he would kill them and not lose any sleep over it.

When Kate heard, "One minute until Portal entrance," she left the control area, went down the stairs to the Portal floor, and waited behind the security team.

Suddenly the shuttle came through the Portal and stopped abruptly. The Portal itself remained open for now. The shuttle spun in place and lowered the back ramp.

Micheal came out first followed by the 2 aliens. Each alien had 2 bundles in hand and right behind 1 of them was what must surely be the animal and then the flight crew. She'd never seen anything like the 4 legged creature before.

Kate sucked in a breath. She knew aliens were coming but not these 2. The female looked weird to her. She was really slender, had long orange hair and she was small busted unlike all Orion women, including herself. However it was the male that had her attention.

He was gorgeous and she couldn't take her eyes off him. She found that what she wanted to do was rush him, wrap her arms around him, and kiss him senseless. However she also knew she was doing one more thing and she couldn't prevent it. It was instinctual. She was sending out vast amounts of pheromones meant to make the male – any male – want her when he smelled them. She had no doubt that the male Orions around her that were smelling her now had erections and would want to take her right then and there if she didn't stop this.

"Take them to Medical, NOW!" Kate quickly retreated back up the stairs, went into the conference room, and closed the doors behind her. She was alone now and could try and relax. It was only as she sat down that she felt her heart pounding. She wanted him and she was finding it hard to resist running to him and taking him wherever he was now.

She'd never felt like this about anyone in her history. She had dedicated her life to not being the stereotypical Orion woman. She wanted to be different. She had wanted to be in charge of something all her life. Being placed in charge of this expedition had been her greatest joy. She also knew at the time that it was going to mean she would live alone since every Orion male she had ever met didn't interest her. She blamed most of it on the piercings and attachments that male Orions were really fond of applying to all parts of their bodies.

Kate pictured him in her mind and looked him over. His skin color was alluring, he was tall, and like most Orion males he was broad chested. He also had no piercings or tattoos that she could see.

She shook her head to get the image out of her head. She knew she was dumping pheromones into the air again and needed to get control of herself before she created a scene and ended up being gang-raped.

Kate had reached a conclusion. Her life from here on was going to change.

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"WOW, Dad!" Everything was very modern-looking. There were no lights hanging anywhere and yet the place was well lit. Most everything was white, silver, or gray with colored accents.

Then they noticed all the green skinned people particularly the ones that looked clearly military to them. Especially the big gun they were holding in front of them. Thankfully they weren't pointing them directly at them, but they could with ease.

Alexis was looking around. Just at that moment Rick saw someone behind the guards. She was all green save for her hair color and she was gorgeous. One of those women that could cause accidents while walking down the sidewalk. Suddenly he had an erection; he couldn't think of anything else but going over there and kissing her senseless then finding someplace quiet so they could do more. A whole lot more.

Then she spoke and her voice was pure velvet. "Take them to Medical." She walked away, went up the stairs, and disappeared behind doors that became a wall.

"WHAT? Hey!" He wanted to follow her. Only now the men with weapons were pushing them, using those same weapons. "But…" This wasn't what or where Rick wanted to go but the men with the guns definitely had his attention.

Rick and Alexis went where they were told and they both saw hallways that had white floors, gray to dark gray walls and white ceilings with lighting that they couldn't identify the entire way. Since her hands were full Alexis made sure Dixie was right behind her.

They went down a series of stairs until a pair of doors slid open and they were pushed inside. The place certainly looked medical. There were green men and women mostly dressed in bright white uniforms. One of the men came closer and said something in his language. Naturally neither of them knew what he said. Worse, Micheal hadn't come with them. Then he demonstrated taking his clothes off. "I think he wants us to strip, Dad." Alexis wasn't happy about that.

"Like hell!" Rick stood ramrod straight and showed his refusal. For doing that he got hit in the back with the side of a weapon. "HEY!" Rick turned on him only to see him point his weapon at him and hear what he was sure was a round going into the chamber.

"I think they mean it." Alexis sighed and dropped her bundles. She looked at Dixie and started taking off her shirt. She was at least wearing her bra, hoping she got to keep it and her panties.

Rick groaned as he saw his daughter start to strip. He couldn't let her stand there alone wearing next to nothing so he began taking off his own shirt.

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They soon found themselves lying on beds, wearing only their underwear, and being looked over from head to toe. Both sides had learned that talking to each other was a waste of time since neither understood the other.

Alexis had purposely leaned down and picked Dixie up. She held her close as she lay down on the bed and made sure Dixie was comfortable next to her.

They took blood and used a surgical blade to scrape off some skin. They had their eyes looked at, their ears, and even up their noses. Fingernail samples were taken and Alexis took exception to. She stared at them. "Do you know what it cost me to get them to look like that?" She'd spent 6 hours in a spa to get her nails to look the way they did. They ignored her and took toenail samples as well. This time Alexis glared at them.

They both had hair samples taken by simply having them pulled out of their heads. "OW!" They were going just a bit too far.

Finally everyone but the two men with guns left and didn't come back. They were left lying on their beds in their underwear with their bags filled with what they had brought with them still on the floor that so far no one had looked at yet.

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Kate showed up after being called to Medical. "Doctor Heuer?" She was hoping he had a report. They were in a separate room that had a two way mirror that allowed both of them to see their alien guests. She was thankful for that. She'd spent this time trying to get control of herself. She didn't need to be sending out massive amounts of pheromones that just screamed_, "F__uck me__,"_to all the men.

"They're interesting," he said for a start and stepped over to a wall. "These are the scans that we took. Their internal organs are similar and yet different. A few are almost an exact match. Lungs, for example. Their intestines are also almost a match to ours, however most everything else is in different locations which doesn't surprise me." He moved to a desk and picked up a pad and Kate went with him.

"We did numerous tests of most everything. Their blood looks like ours to the eye, though that's where it ends. If they ever get severely injured we wouldn't be able to give them a transfusion. The only thing we could do would be to hope their bodies could naturally replace what they have lost.

"Their eyes see in the same spectrum as ours so there we're equal. Internally their ears are constructed different from ours even if they look the same on the exterior. It would appear that our hearing is a bit superior to theirs. We can hear at a higher frequency than they can.

"Their skin is self repairing just like ours. Their hair color, while seemingly different, is very similar." He paused to let her take all that in.

"What about their skin color." Obviously they weren't green.

"As much as their skin color looks like a pink hue to us, it is technically a combination of white with pink. I need further testing but my opinion is that their skin color allows them to burn easily when exposed to direct sunlight." He was really intrigued about that.

"Are they safe?" Kate was asking more than just medically safe, such as did they have bugs that would kill or make them sick that did nothing to them.

"They do have a number of microscopic parasites in various areas but none of them are a threat to us. Even we have a number of these microscopic parasites. I don't think any of ours are a threat to them, either." Medically they seemed safe thus far.

"What about pheromones?" There. She'd asked the most important question, at least to her.

"Neither of them have any of our pheromone glands," he stated even if he was surprised.

"How is that possible?" The male had made her so damn horny that she could barely contain herself. If she had stayed out there much longer she would have put on quite a show for all to see. She would have enjoyed it sexually, she was sure, but it would have been extremely embarrassing.

"I heard about your reaction to their arrival." Word had spread fast. "I don't know what to tell you about that. I do know that none of the women on my team find him interesting. Certainly not to the extreme that you did or do. One finds him ugly just to look at. As for the young woman, all of the men find her ugly. Mostly it would appear because she is small busted. She is even wearing something that covers her breasts even though hers are very small." He found that totally confusing.

"One of us theorizes that the women of their race develop breasts that sag over time and they need support. So to get used to wearing one they start early since they will be wearing one most of their lives. As strange as it sounds I tend to agree." The doctor couldn't see any other reason for her to be wearing it.

Kate went over to the window so she could see both of them lying there. The male was lying there mostly naked and showing almost nothing but skin. Seeing him had her fighting herself to keep from producing her pheromones.

"You clearly find him attractive." The doctor couldn't help but notice her pheromones. Even he was starting to develop an erection because of them.

"I'm in so much trouble," she groaned. She couldn't help herself, he was drop-dead gorgeous and seeing all that skin wasn't helping. With great effort she walked away from the window so she could get control of herself.

"Well if it helps at all, we aren't compatible. If you decide to have sex with him he can't impregnate you nor can any of our males get the female pregnant. It would take a fair amount of work in a laboratory to get our DNA to be compatible and produce a child. It might be possible but there are no guarantees." Kate wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. It meant she could fuck his brains out and not get pregnant. But that also meant no children. That part wasn't so bad. She had sacrificed that to gain her present position.

"So they're safe." Kate thought about it. "You can release them then. I'll assign someone to show them their quarters and let them get settled. I need to finish debriefing Micheal and the crew of Ranger Four." She left him to his work.

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Rick and Alexis were suddenly allowed to get up and get dressed. They picked up their makeshift bags that now held the sum total of their worldly possessions and were escorted by 1 man and another man who was dressed for combat and had a weapon.

"Come on, Dixie." Alexis made sure that she followed her. Since her hands were full she had to slow way down when they hit a series of stairs and try and coax Dixie to go down them.

They both took that they were down to 1 with a weapon as a good sign. They went down corridors that they didn't recognize though so far all of them looked the same.

Then they stopped at a door that was opened for them. Alexis was pointed at and motioned to go inside. She stepped into the doorway but didn't go any farther. She watched as her dad was taken to the door next to hers just down the corridor a bit and motioned for him to go inside. They both now knew where the other was so Alexis went inside and called Dixie to make sure she followed her.

The corridor was predominately gray with shades of blue. The interior of her room was mostly beige with a tiled floor that was dark. Two of the walls were shades of brown and the ceiling was a dull white. The ceiling had hidden lights that lit up the room nicely.

She saw a square table that seated 2 people. There was a sofa that looked like an off white. Coffee table and a door. Alexis dropped her bags, went to the door, and found a bedroom and two more doors.

The bed looked to be queen-sized. One door turned into a small bathroom complete with a shower. The other was a closet. "It's a one bedroom apartment." The color tones were a little dark for her taste but it was nice. "Where's the kitchen?"

She was headed for her bags when there was a knock at the door. She went to the door and realized that there wasn't a handle to open it. There was a panel that was lit on one side so she reached for it. Her hand never made it and the door opened.

Rick walked past her into her room. "We need to talk." Alexis recognized her dad was in his serious mode.

"Come on in." Alexis let the door close on its own and watched him look around including into her bedroom. "It's just me and Dixie. What's up?"

"I don't think they trust us." Rick started with that.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "We're aliens. ...Did you trust Micheal when he showed up?"

"That's different," Rick insisted. The green man was an alien on their planet so he was not to be trusted.

Alexis ignored him as she picked up her bags and went into the bedroom so she could unpack. She wanted to look over what she had decided to take with her and what she wished she had remember to bring.

Rick followed her into the bedroom. "There's an armed guard outside."

"Is he still out there?" She wouldn't be surprised if he was.

Rick ignored her question since he didn't see him when he came over here. But that didn't mean he wasn't watching somewhere. He continued to complain. "They don't talk to us. We don't even know where we are."

"Only Micheal knows English, Dad, and even he isn't all that good at it." His English had gotten better but it still sucked. She wasn't surprised by that and opened up her pillowcase.

"What about that woman who ordered us to be taken to Medical?" He meant that she'd issued an order and then left in a hurry.

"She's pretty even if she is green. Actually everyone's green and what are all those things in their heads?" Alexis looked at him this time.

Rick touched his head where things were attached to their heads. "Some of them even had earrings." And not little ones either, they were big.

Alexis raised an eyebrow at that one. She hadn't noticed those. She was stuck on the things on their foreheads and that most of them were bald. "Beats me. Maybe it's their idea of getting a tattoo." It was all she had.

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Kate had a few of her top people with her in the conference room. "Go get the girl and bring her here. I want to talk with her. You're sure you can speak their language?" She had Micheal with her.

"I'm not an expert at it but I can make myself understood," Micheal replied. It was enough for her.

Alexis had finally gotten rid of her dad so she could start to unpack and put stuff away when there was another knock on her door. "Jeez, Dad." His recent behavior was starting to grate on her.

She waved her hand over the glowing panel and the door slid open. Except it wasn't her dad. It was a green woman with huge breasts; she was actually pretty with really short hair. She said something Alexis didn't understand but she also motioned for her to follow.

Alexis couldn't resist. She was her father's daughter. "Take me to your leader." She couldn't help but grin as she followed the green woman after picking up Dixie and taking her with her. She wasn't letting Dixie out of her sight. She had no idea what these people thought about dogs.

As Alexis followed her she also noticed something else: she knew how to swing her hips in a way that she knew most men found incredibly sexy. "I hate you." Alexis didn't fear saying it out loud since she didn't understand a word she said.

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Alexis soon recognized where she was now. She saw the Portal they'd come through though right now it was dark. Then she followed her up a wide set of stairs to a platform where the woman who had told them to be taken to Medical had retreated to.

Up there also was a series of consoles. They kind of reminded her a bit of the ones NASA used in Houston or Florida. There were a number of them though only one of them had anyone sitting at it.

Not really thinking about what she was doing, Alexis absently ran a finger across it to see if it was made of metal, or plastic, fiberglass, or something else. When she did it lit up as lights came on all over it.

That had the green woman that was escorting her running through a series of doors.

"MA'AM, the alien woman just activated one of the dark consoles," she yelled into the room.

That had all heads snapping up to look at her in utter shock.


	12. Chapter 12

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 12_

Kate was the first one out of the conference room. She almost literally flew across the small area that separated the conference room from the Control Room until she was right in front of Alexis. "What did you do?" Kate wanted answers. She watched Alexis back up a step, showing that she was frightened of her. "What did you do?" Kate tried again forgetting that the alien didn't speak her language.

Micheal caught up and could hear Kate yelling her question. "This leader. How make work?"

Alexis looked at Micheal, at the woman yelling at her, then finally the console that was now all lit up. "I only touched it. I didn't touch anything." She meant she had touched the edge and not any of the panels that were now lit up.

Alexis listened as Micheal spoke his language and then the woman's answer.

"Show us," Micheal told Alexis.

It sounded simple enough so she stepped to one of the dark consoles and ran a few fingers across the edge. It lit up and everyone around her erupted. Alexis backed up a few steps as several people scrambled to sit at the new consoles that were working. She had no idea what she'd done. She'd just touched it and nothing else.

Kate was beyond excited. She wanted to know what each console did and get it working. "Micheal, get her to touch all the others." Out of the seven consoles only three were working. If this alien girl could get all of them working, she and possibly the male with her were the two most important people here.

Alexis watched as Micheal came up to her. "Touch." He pointed to all the black consoles.

"You want me to touch all the others?" Alexis needed to be sure since she was sure she was in trouble.

"Yes…, touch." Micheal did his best to make it clear so she could understand.

"Okay." Alexis moved slowly and realized everyone's eyes were on every move she made. Alexis reestablished her hold on Dixie first.

One by one she went to each terminal console and ran her fingers across any edge she could easily reach. Each one she touched lit up. Soon there were people sitting at each and every one of them looking it over.

What she did notice was that while all of them were now active no one was actually touching anything on them. She stepped up to one of them and looked it over now that it was clear everyone was happy with her.

There were panels all over it along with one or more screens. On it everywhere she looked were symbols she didn't understand. Alexis looked and hesitantly started to reach out and touch something but thought better of it and put her hands behind her back.

Someone tapped her shoulder and saw Micheal motioning her to follow. Soon everyone was sitting at what she knew was a conference table. Just as she went inside the eight doors that made up one entire wall pivoted closed, sealing them in. There was one empty chair so Alexis sat down. Now she was worried again. She put Dixie in her lap. None of them seemed concerned about Dixie but she wasn't taking any chances.

Kate issued her first order. "I want a team working on figuring out what each of the consoles does. This is now our top priority." Then she turned to Micheal. "Ask her how she did that."

Micheal shifted to look at Alexis. "Leader." He pointed at Kate. "How?" His English was still limited.

"How did I turn them on? I don't know. All I did was touch them. Surely your people have touched them before now. Why didn't they come on for you?" Alexis replied.

Kate waved her hand at Micheal. She didn't speak the language but she didn't need to.

"Doctor, I want her and the male back in Medical. I want to know how she did that. What makes her so special?" What had he missed in the previous examination?

Kate remembered seeing Alexis looking at the console and reaching out but not touching anything. "Ask her if she understands what it said." Was she going to get that lucky?

"Leader. Can you read?" Micheal asked her.

That told Alexis that they couldn't turn them on and they couldn't read them, either. If she said yes they would instantly test her and have her working the device when she had no idea what she was doing. But she didn't want them sending her and her dad back to Earth. It looked like Earth was about to be a very dangerous place.

Alexis remembered her deal with her dad: always tell the truth no matter how much it hurts. Alexis shook her head and saw Kate lower her head in disappointment.

"Maybe I could learn if you let me. I might be smart enough." She was doing great in school and was excelling in everything she did. Granted she studied really hard to get those grades. Maybe it was time to put those grades to good use.

"Alexis requests the chance to learn," Micheal informed Kate.

This was definitely a choice that only she could make. It was out of everyone else's purview. This was on her. Kate looked at her closely. "Is she related to the male?"

"Alexis is his child. I don't know where the mother is. The topic never came up," Micheal responded.

Kate went back to studying her. She looked young, possibly underage but maybe not. Going to see the male to ask for permission actually scared Kate. She wasn't ready yet to be alone with him. She needed to gain control over herself first.

"We only have the one console that we have managed to get working and it controls the Portal. Besides the other consoles with it, what other consoles do we have?" Kate wasn't sure she trusted her with one of those.

"Medical has one or more," Heuer answered since he had systems that he had no idea what they did. They looked advanced and he could really use the help if they were working.

Howler spoke up. "There are those rooms that have no doors and nothing in it save for what looks like a map. There's one just downstairs. I still have teams searching this place, they may find something."

Kate weighed her options. The consoles on this level had top priority in her mind but they were also the most precious. She wasn't sure how much she trusted the aliens just yet. She made up her mind and issued an order. "Take her down to Medical and let her try. Take the male with her. Maybe two minds are better than one. Then show both of them where the cafeteria is. I'm assuming they can safely eat our food."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." Doctor Heuer was ecstatic. Maybe he was about to have a complete medical bay filled with advanced equipment that was operational.

"Does she require a security team to monitor her and him?" It was up to Howler and not Kate.

Micheal stood up for Alexis. "She isn't a danger. They're unarmed and they actually saved my life after my shuttle crashed into a lake. They could have let me drown."

Kate still looked at Howler since it was up to him. "They can't escape. They are aliens that we have never seen before. If they want to survive they need us. So no, I don't think so." Howler was willing to give them a chance.

"My staff and I can keep an eye on them. If they succeed we need to know what they did so we can duplicate it," the doctor added.

Alexis was sitting there listening to them talk, not understanding a word; regardless, her head kept turning to look at who was talking.

Kate made a decision. "Take the female alien down to Medical and get the male to go with her."

"Her name is Alexis," Micheal corrected her. "The male is named Rick."

Finally Alexis knew they were talking about her, just not what about.

Kate now had a name for the male who worried her. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. She huffed a frustrated breath. "The meeting is over. Put them to work." She remained seated while everyone else got up and left. She needed a plan. Eventually she was going to come into contact with the male and she needed to be ready and sure of herself.

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"Follow me, Dad, we have a job." Alexis had worked out what they wanted from them and she was actually excited. The chance to learn a new language with literally nothing to help her. It was going to be a real challenge. "Come on Dixie." Dixie was back on the floor and Alexis needed for her to follow her. She still wasn't sure if it was safe to leave her behind.

"Where are we going?" Rick inquired. They had a guide to take them to Medical. Alexis was paying attention so she could get back to her room.

"Medical. They want us to try and get their systems working." Alexis was smiling all the way. Of course Rick questioned just what the hell was going on. What was his daughter talking about?

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The entire medical staff was there waiting for them and the doctor took Alexis to one of the consoles that had a language none of them understood. Alexis looked it over. It was a little different than the ones upstairs.

"They want us to translate this crap?" Rick thought she was nuts and then watched as she ran a hand across it. He was amazed when it lit up and came to life. "How did you do that?"

Alexis shrugged. "I have no idea. I did that upstairs for all the ones up there, too. I don't think these people know how to run this place. It's like they only just found it and are living here but can't really use it. If we want them to trust us, we need to figure out what these symbols mean. You're a writer, what does it say?" She knew it wasn't that easy but she needed to get her dad interested in helping her.

Alexis tried to use the lovely lady who was control around here. "You want that lady to like you, help me figure this thing out."

She turned to the doctor while he and the others were busy talking to each other. They looked excited. "Do you have pen and paper? Something to write on?" Alexis mimicked writing on something. He spoke to someone; one of the women walked away and came back with a pad. He showed her how to turn it on and pulled out a stylus for her to use. "Thank you." Alexis turned to look at the device. It was time to get to work.

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Alexis wasn't sure she was making any progress at all. But at least the medical staff had left them alone when it looked like they weren't going to make it work immediately. She'd had to stop once after Dixie peed on the floor. "It's just pee," she told anyone around her and wiped it up. Of course she knew pooping was next.

"I'm starving," Rick complained as he did his part.

"Go ask them where the cafeteria is. These people must eat something," Alexis said and kept working. She was more than willing to work all night. She wanted these people to like them. Besides, she wanted to know what was happening back home.

Rick came back. "I think he wants us to follow him." It was the best Rick could understand.

"Take your pad with you." Rick was leaving it behind and Alexis wanted to work while she ate. He grumbled but retrieved his pad.

Kate saw them both enter the cafeteria and since she wasn't ready yet she got up, grabbed something off her tray and beat a hasty retreat.

Rick saw her leave. "I think she hates me." He didn't understand it. She was the only person who ran away from him. He thought he made friends easily enough. How was he going to make her a friend if she constantly ran away when he showed up?

Alexis didn't get it either. She shrugged then went down the line and chose things that looked like they were edible as well as something for Dixie to eat. One of her bundles was food for Dixie but she didn't even know where her room was from here.

Rick sat down across from her and taste tested everything while also watching Alexis choose something and eat it while studying her tablet.

"This food's weird." So far he wasn't happy with his choices. "Are you listening to me?" Rick didn't like being ignored.

"Hmm, what?" Alexis turned her head to look at her dad. She was working or maybe studying was a better word.

"You like this stuff?" She had chosen most of what he had.

"It's fine, Dad." She went back to her tablet and ate while she worked. Then she selected something for Dixie and watched her swallow it whole. "I'll feed you when we get back to our room," Alexis promised. She decided she needed something to hold Dixie's food; one of these bowls was going with her.

Alexis was done and Rick was done with what he had liked and decided he wasn't going to eat this or that again.

Alexis had reached a decision. "I need something to compare this to. How often do they repeat these symbols? Where on the console do they show up? Eventually we're going to need to start pressing panels but I need something to compare this console with." Alexis got up and picked up her pad.

"Where are you going?" Rick didn't see the point.

"Control Room. That's where the other consoles are located. Go back to Medical. Unless you want to meet that lovely lady that runs away from you." Alexis grinned at him and left him before he could respond. She also made sure Dixie was right behind her.

"I don't even know her name," Rick yelled after her which had heads turning to look at him. He decided Medical was safer than following Alexis or staying here.

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Kate was looking over all of the consoles now that they all worked. She didn't understand any of them but her team was sitting at each one, looking it over and trying to understand each one. Then suddenly she saw the alien girl walk up the stairs and watched her go to one of the consoles and look it over with the animal right behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asked her.

Alexis didn't understand a word but she could guess. "I need to compare." She pointed at what was on her pad and what was at the console. It seemed to be enough for her since she left her alone.

Kate saw her use the pad to draw each symbol and then start switching back and forth between the two, over and over again. She had questions but the language barrier was still a problem and Micheal wasn't there to translate. She could call for him but she chose to observe.

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It had been almost five days and Kate noticed the alien girl had returned and was back at the same station, looking between it and her pad. She'd brought the animal with her yet again. Still the animal never left her side so Kate thought it was safe. The doctor had reported that while all the consoles and equipment in Medical now worked none of them knew how to use it.

Suddenly she saw the alien girl reach out and press something on the console. "Dad, can you hear me?" She thought the girl had figured out something.

"Alexis?" Rick hadn't been expecting that. He was still trying to figure out what each symbol meant and was itching to just start pressing things.

That had Kate rushing over to her. "What did you do?" She cursed the blasted language barrier.

"I think this station is a communications station, Dad. I can call and talk to anyone I want if I have this right. …The lady that hates you is standing next to me and talking. I think she wants to know what I did even if I'm not sure what I did." Alexis ignored Kate for now and kept looking. She thought she had something else worked out. She reached out to press a panel and suddenly the entire console went dark.

"What the hell have you done?" Kate was pissed. She should have known better than to let her just do what she wanted. It had been a mistake, maybe a costly one.

Alexis simply pressed it again and it all came back to life. "Power switch. This means **P****OWER**!" Alexis was excited as she looked at the lady that hated her dad. Alexis got off her chair and went to another console with Kate close behind her. Before Kate could stop her Alexis reached out, pressed a panel, and the unit shut down. Then she pressed it again and it came back to life.

Suddenly Kate was excited and had a new opinion of the alien girl.

"This means **POWER**!" Alexis was so excited. She went back to the other console and looked at it in a new light. "What part of this symbol spells power?" It looked a lot like those Chinese characters. There could be multiple words in one character. So it was with this console. "Too bad I never took Chinese," Alexis muttered, thinking that might be helpful about now.

Alexis put her tablet down, pulled out the stylus, and began drawing. "Power, power." She looked at each little line then drew them in various ways. "I think this is E. …Crossword puzzle!" Alexis pressed the panel again. "DAD, get up here. I think this thing might be part crossword puzzle." Her dad was the best she knew when it came to crossword puzzles.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"Get up here she says. I don't even know where _up here_ is," Rick grumbled as he walked. What he did know was that it was upstairs so every set of stairs he came across he went up them. Suddenly he found himself with the portal in the distance in front of him. "Found it." He wasn't sure how he had gotten there but there he was. He found the large wide staircase that went up and at once saw his daughter.

"You yelled." He walked over her and stood next to her.

"This is **POWER**, Dad." Alexis pressed it and the lights all went out; she pressed it again and all the lights came on. What neither of them had noticed yet was that everyone there was watching them.

"This is the word." Alexis showed it to him on her tablet. "This is the letter E. This is E, this is E, and this is E, and–" Rick interrupted her.

"I get it. This is a five letter word with E as the fourth letter. What does this mean, for example. What's nine letters long with an E on the end? What is this device?" He was thinking that might help.

"I pressed this panel and it allowed me to talk to you. It has an E for the second letter." Alexis wasn't sure why but it had worked but it had.

"Five letters with an E for the second letter. …I was in Medical and you pressed this," Rick remarked and it had Alexis using her pad again.

"Medical, Medical. This is M, this is E, this is D, this is I, this is C, this is A, and this is L." Alexis drew each one separately.

"This one had an E at the end, and L for the fifth letter, and an A for the sixth and the third. Late, maybe?" Rick thought he had something. "Look more A's. We have two vowels." They were making headway and he was hooked.

Kate couldn't believe it. The man she couldn't stop sending out massive amounts of pheromones into the air over was practically standing next to her, ignoring her. She looked around and found all the other males were also ignoring her.

"Dad, does this one say what I think it does?" Alexis inquired but didn't wait and pressed it. Then she turned her head and was shocked to see everyone hovering around them. "Did it work? Say something. Someone say something." Alexis looked at all of them and so did Rick who immediately saw the beautiful woman who hated him.

Then he watched her step even closer. "How did you do that?" Kate couldn't believe it. In less than a week these two had done what her team had been unable to do in months. "I understand you perfectly."

"It worked!" Excited, Alexis flung her hands up into the air. "This panel says **POWER**, this one says **MEDICAL**, and this one says **TRANSLATE**. I think this is a communications station. Internally certainly, but maybe even beyond. I need to write that one down." Alexis turned back to her pad so she could break down the word translate.

"I want copies of what she's done. See if you can copy what she's done and make translation stickers for us to use and tag everything." Kate clapped her hands. "Get to work, everyone! This is amazing! Thank you." She owed these two.

Then Kate noticed the male was staring at her. Was she? Was he smelling her? Then she watched him walk right up to her and she couldn't help but be nervous.

"Hi, I'm Rick." Rick held out his hand.

Kate saw him reach out to her. She watched her hand move of its own accord and take his. His touch sent electricity straight up her arm and right to her core.

Rick suddenly knew he had to kiss her, he just had to. There was something about her, something totally irresistible. He got closer and closer, little by little. She was scared and yet she was begging him to kiss her. She so wanted him to kiss her. Then his lips touched hers and she couldn't help but wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back.

She had to have him. He had to make love to her. Then she suddenly broke from the kiss and from him, scared that she was dumping massive amounts of pheromones into the air. Forcing him to want her as much as she wanted him.

A quick look around told her that all of the males on this level only had eyes for her. She knew beyond a doubt that they all had erections. This alien male likely did, too.

"Fuck it, come with me." It was going to happen so now was as good a time as any. Kate grabbed his hand, headed for the stairs, and dragged Rick behind her.

"Get to work!" Kate yelled behind her at the others.


	13. Chapter 13

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 13_

Naked,Kate was resting on top of Rick after climaxing for the sixth time. Kate knew she had been pumping out a tremendous amount of pheromones to keep him active and with an erection. She wasn't a virgin but sex with the alien male had been incredible. Amazingly she still wanted him but she needed to stop since she didn't know what this did to him. She had forced him to keep his erection and didn't know if that was good for him so she calmed down while resting on him.

"Did I hurt you?" She feared that she had. She had found out that she was stronger than he was. She had also realized that he loved her breasts. It was the very first time she'd ever had a breast climax. Then he'd worked his way down her body until his head was between her legs and he was licking her. That alone had caused the next three orgasms.

She had really wanted him by then so she flipped them and had him on his back while she mounted him. He was big, bigger than any Orion male she had ever seen. And while she knew this might hurt she didn't care. She dropped herself on him and plunged him deep inside her instantly.

She had ground herself with him deep inside her. He felt incredible. It wasn't until her next orgasm began to build up that she started bucking up and down as fast as she could. She heard him grunt loudly as she screamed out her next orgasm.

While she loved having him inside her she got up and let him fall out of her. She kissed her way down to his cock and gave it all the attention it deserved. She was eventually rewarded for all her hard work as he climaxed and she swallowed all of it.

Then she mounted him again until she had reached her latest climax and was now resting on top of him.

"Sorry, I forgot you can't understand a word I say down here." It only worked up in the control room, unfortunately. Instead of asking him again she lifted up and kissed him deeply. She pressed her tongue into his mouth and felt him kissing her back with his tongue. They spent the next few minutes searching each other's mouth.

Kate broke from the kiss and looked him in the eyes. She saw his blue eyes which were also different. One more thing to like about him. All Orion eyes were green without exception. The only difference was how brilliant was the green.

"Hi." Kate tried that instead.

Rick smiled at her; she was amazing in bed. The best he'd ever had. She was beautiful with breasts of a size that he loved most. He was guessing maybe 34 DD at minimum maybe more. What also shocked him was that she didn't wear a bra and her breasts were in perfect shape. Not a bit of sag. They were prefect even if he didn't understand how.

The fact that they were green only made her more beautiful. Her skin was green, her areolas were a deeper green and even her little tight nipples were green. Her hair was brown, her eyebrows and eyelashes were brown and her pubic hair that she kept trimmed to almost nothing was also brown.

"You're amazing!" Rick had loved making love to her. Especially when he was sure that she hated him.

Kate had no idea what he said but still she smiled at him and rested her head on his chest. It didn't sound like he was complaining so she hadn't hurt him which was good.

The doctor had told her that they weren't compatible so he couldn't get her pregnant. That told her that they could be having sex as often as they wanted and right now all she wanted was to have more sex.

Then she felt his arms tighten around her and hold her tight. It felt so good to be in his arms. And here she had been scared of him. It was actually a little amusing now.

"Are you hungry?" She was starving since she had just used up a fair amount of energy and she was betting he was in the wet spot and was interested in getting up.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Kate was up, getting dressed in something new while he was putting on the same clothes.

Rick was watching since he couldn't help it. She was putting on some of the more risqué panties he had ever seen but she wasn't putting on a bra. "Do you not wear a bra?"

Kate looked at him not understanding what he was saying, something they needed to fix somehow. She watched him demonstrate something on his chest and mimicked having breasts. That had her remembering that the alien girl had been wearing something on her chest.

"No." Kate went back to getting dressed.

"Excellent!" A braless Kate meant her nipples when hard would be showing and he couldn't wait.

Kate saw him grinning after that. She smiled since given how much attention he had paid to her breasts during sex told her that he was interested in her breasts. Suddenly that was a good thing.

He was putting on his boxers when she saw that he had another erection. She was sure that was her fault. She still wanted him and was likely pumping out large amounts of pheromones again. "I'm so sorry." Still she could do something about his erection.

Kate got down on her knees and took him in her mouth. She found she loved his smooth and large cock. It felt good and tasted even better. She did her best to shove his cock down her throat and listen to him moan. She was happy that she'd found something that he liked.

She did it several more times when suddenly he climaxed and filled her mouth with his ejaculate which she swirled around in her mouth before swallowing it. It was one more thing to look forward to next time. There was most definitely going to be a next time and as often as possible.

Kate took his hand and led him to the cafeteria. She sat down across from him to eat. All the while while eating she couldn't help but smile at him as he grinned back.

"There you are," someone called out and came over to Kate. "We've worked out a few more things about the communication panel. It isn't just an internal communications, it's long distance communications as well. We might even be able to contact home but we don't know that." They were making swift progress with that unit now.

"That's great! Please thank the girl for me. We couldn't have done it without her." Kate was wiling to give credit where credit was due.

"One more thing. We found these stored under the unit. We only have a few for now but we're searching for more. Just attach them to your shirt and press them." Heughan handed Kate a small clip-on square. "They're communication and translators."

"Excellent!" Things were getting better. "Give him one, please." Kate pointed at Rick.

"Ma'am, we only have just so many at this time." He didn't understand. He wasn't part of the team.

"Give him one, that's an order." Kate wanted to be able to talk to him. They needed to be able to talk to each other.

"Yes, ma'am." Heughan handed Rick one who took it and looked at it.

"Who else has one?" Who could she talk with at this time?

"Howler, Muncy, Doctor Heuer, Frisco, everyone on the control deck and the alien girl. She actually found them and programmed them for us. These are the only other two at this time," he said.

Kate didn't care. "Keep looking for more and thank the girl for me."

"She says her name is Alexis. Yes, ma'am." He left her and Kate clipped it to her shirt.

"Put yours on, please," Kate told him.

"You speak English now?" Rick had heard every word.

"Translator." She tapped the device on her shirt. "We just found them," Kate explained.

Kate brought the conversation to them having sex. "Did I hurt you?"

Rick started grinning. "On the contrary, you were amazing! Can we do it again?" He was asking if they could be a couple.

Kate began grinning now. "There's something I need to explain." She had to explain about the pheromones she created. What all Orion women create when they were excited.

"Is it a good thing?" Rick only wanted to hear good news.

"Maybe, maybe not. All Orion women, that's us, Orions. All Orion women can produce these pheromones. They're something you smell and causes you to be interested in us. You can't resist wanting to have sex with us. No male can resist." There she had told him.

Rick thought about that. "You used these pheromones on me?" He wasn't sure if he should be angry or not. He had wanted to have sex with her, but had it been his idea or had she forced him into it?

"Yes. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. Most Orion women can't control when they're produced. A few can but most can't. I wanted you so I produced them automatically. I find you incredibly attractive. Are you angry with me?" She couldn't stand it if he was. He was so very attractive.

"So you think I'm sexy?" Rick was loving it. She found him sexy and couldn't resist him. It was a really good thing since he found her incredibly sexy and wanted her too. "Do I create these pheromones as well?" He was going to pump out as much as he could to make her want him.

Kate shook her head. "You're not Orion and only a handful of males can produce pheromones. I've never met one yet. So you're not upset?" He needed to not be angry at her.

"You can hit me with your pheromones as much as you want." Rick saw her start smiling. "Like again tonight maybe? Your room. Just as soon as I figure out where that is." He was still lost in this place.

Kate smiled even wider. "I'll show you how to get there." They were having more sex tonight and she couldn't wait.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Kate took Rick up to the control deck where they both found Alexis still there only she was sitting at a different console. "I'm told we have you to thank for these." Kate tapped the device on her shirt.

"Pretty cool, isn't it! I was so tired of talking with my hands." Alexis had had it with that crap. "This is so much better. I barely even notice the Japanese talk with these things."

"The what?" Kate didn't understand and thought maybe it was broken already.

"Japanese movies. They speak Japanese and they dub the voices in English which is what I'm speaking yet you can see his lips don't match what's being said," Alexis explained.

"Ohh. I see." Now that she clarified what she meant Kate started seeing it. "Well anyway, many thanks, I'm not sure we could have done it without you. What are you doing now?" She had moved to a different station.

"I've got your people creating translation tags for the communications station. They should be done soon and then you can use it using your language. I wasn't needed there any longer so I moved to this one.

"I'm not sure yet but I think this station's a long distance scanner. This big screen is the display, I believe. Meaning it scans space for whatever's out there. Like spaceships or asteroids on a collision course, stars that go nova, whatever is out there. I'm just having some trouble with some of the words. Some of this isn't making any sense. It might be because there isn't any translation. It might be a new word for us. I don't know yet.

"This is really fun though." Alexis was having a blast. It was so much fun. She found trying to figure the consoles out was irresistible. "DIXIE!" Alexis spotted her arching her back with the intent of pooping on the floor. That was the primary problem she had keeping Dixie in this place. There was no outside around here that she had found. No place for her to do her business.

"Sorry, she doesn't know any better. She's just a puppy." Alexis was prepared though and while it created a smell that lingered for time she scooped it up and closed the bag she was using to try and block the smell.

"Well thanks anyway and keep up the good work. Just remember to stop and get some sleep and remember to eat something." It wouldn't do to have her collapsing on them. "What is that thing anyway?"

"It's a dog. Don't your people have pets? This is Dixie, that's what I named her and she's a collie. She's just a puppy now but she'll grow up." Alexis petted her and kissed her head.

Eyes sparkling, Alexis said, "So you do like Dad." They were standing together and she wasn't running away like she had been.

Kate was sure her skin color was changing and fought it down. "Yes, I like your father. I always did, it's just that you need to understand my position here. When we have time I'll explain it to you." Kate was glad that she wasn't upset that she liked her father.

"Maybe later. Part of the problem with this thing is the numbers I think. Most everything else was words, this is different. Plus I'm not sure just how far anything is using their system and language. I need to find something that uses numbers but is also easier to translate.

"For example, I understand kilometers, but what is a parsec, which is the word they use, I think? How far is that in a way we can understand. Then if it is a ship does it tell us how fast it's traveling and how long it will be before it reaches us? This thing's a lot harder than that one." Alexis pointed at the communication console that was presently manned by someone.

"Still many thanks. I'm glad that you're here. Both of you. Our numbers are limited so we can use all the people we can get," Kate said. "As for your…dog, I'll think of something." She couldn't let it keep pooping and peeing all over her floor whenever it wanted.

"Thanks for being understanding about Dixie. But back to the numbers of your people. Why is that? I noticed that this place is enormous. There's a balcony out those doors that provides quite a view." Alexis pointed at a door that led to a good sized balcony and since they were high up in the tower it provided a very good view of where they were.

"That's a long story. Maybe later. I need to go see Medical. You can stay here." Kate looked at Rick and resisted the urge to kiss him in front of everyone.

Kate left and only a few Orions were up there with Alexis and now Rick. Alexis was ready to tease her dad. "So she doesn't hate you?"

"No. …So what can I do to help?" He wasn't telling his daughter that he'd just spent the last few hours having mind-blowing sex mostly because she used pheromones on him. He didn't care since he was interested in her just as much. To him her pheromones only enhanced what he was already feeling, or so he thought.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Alexis was dead tired. She'd gotten so wrapped up in trying to figure out what she thought was a long range scanner that she really had forgotten to stop and go to her room to get some sleep.

Her dad had even told her to go to bed. He'd kissed her head and left her behind. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't even noticed that Kate went with him.

Now she was dragging her tired and aching body from down the corridor to her room. Or at least she was pretty sure it was the right corridor to her room. She hadn't even eaten anything and it was too late now for that. She had to pick up Dixie ever time they reached a set of stairs but she was at least following her.

"Micheal!" She was a little shocked to find him sitting on the floor just outside of her door with his back up against the door.

Micheal got up quickly. "Hi, you busy." He meant she had been busy, not asking if she was busy.

"Not anymore. Right now what I need is sleep. Why are you here?" She had been so busy that she hadn't seen him since she had gotten here. First she was stuck in Medical and now she was busy in the control area.

"Wanted to see you," Micheal said.

"That's sweet." Alexis reached to get the door open and stopped. There was something about him. Something interesting.

"You want to talk? You can come in." She suddenly wasn't that tired.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Alexis snapped her eyes open and her mind flew to last night. She also felt a soreness between her legs. "Did we?" She rolled over but the bed was empty save for her.

As she continued to wake up she started remembering what they had done last night.

She'd been headed for her room because she was tired only to find Micheal waiting for her at her door. She had invited him in so they could talk. She thought she remembered that they did talk, but about what she couldn't remember.

She recalled him kissing her and placing a hand on her chest. The longer they kissed the more she wanted him to keep kissing her.

Her top had come off and her bra was gone and Micheal was using his lips and tongue on her breasts. Then her pants were gone as were her panties and she was on her back on her bed with his head between her outspread legs.

Right now she couldn't remember just how long he had stayed but she'd enjoyed it a lot. Then he kissed his way up and kissed her mouth so she could taste herself again.

After that he'd lifted her legs and pushed himself inside her. She's pretty sure she'd begged him to go faster and push harder but she really wasn't sure at the moment.

It was her second time having sex and she was willing to admit that she was learning to love it. He wasn't so big that it hurt but he did spread her lips a bit.

Except that he was gone now and while she didn't want him like she had last night, she was wondering when they would do that again. Her dad had his own room so she didn't need to sneak around behind his back that much to have sex again.

However now that he was gone she began trying to understand just how much she thought about him. He was nice and he treated her with kindness. He was her first lover and she was willing to admit that that was important. It was just that she didn't know all that much about him. They hadn't even actually gone out on a date yet and here she had had sex with him twice already. Just why had she done that?

"We need to go out on a date. Just where do you go on dates around here?" They were on a planet it was just that this planet was all water and she didn't know what was on this planet besides them. "Are there boats? Is there a theater room for movies? I won't understand a word they say unless I figure out how to fix that. Good thing I brought a few." They were all classics.

Alexis got up, finding that she was still naked and a little more sore than she thought. She found her communication tag and pressed it. "Kate, this is Alexis, do you have time to talk about something?" She was hoping that she was awake and up and not disturbing her.

Kate groaned, irritated with the interruption. Her job meant she needed to answer her so she rolled off of Rick, let him slip out from inside her, and missed him instantly.

Kate picked up her device from the end table. "What can I help you with, Alexis?" Rick rolled over, put his hand on her breast, and started rolling her nipple between his fingers. It took all of her composure not to moan from the pleasure of having him do that.

"I brought some movies from home with me. I don't know if there's a way to play them or if there's even a theater. But I was thinking it might be nice to have a theater night for everyone. Just as soon as I figure out how to translate it." Alexis wasn't even thinking about it adding to her workload. This was something that could be fun and it could be a date.

Kate thought about it for a moment which was just a touch too long as Rick rolled in a little closer and wrapped his lips around her nipple instead of his fingers. That had her biting her bottom lip to remain silent.

"You find a way to translate it and I'll find a way to show it. Kate out." Kate left it behind on her side table and rolled them so she was on top and Rick was no longer sucking on her nipple.

"That was mean." Kate was not all that happy with him at the moment.

"You loved it. Admit it," Rick said and reached up to take her breasts in his hands.

"Not entirely. Trying not to moan while talking to your daughter because you are sucking on my nipple…" She took a sharp breath. He had lost his mind though the more she thought about it the more exciting it became.

"Shut up and fuck me before I have to start work." She wanted to feel him inside her again before she started her day.

"Yes, ma'am." Anything she wanted, Rick would do it. Especially when it came to sex with her. It was turning out to be addictive and he couldn't care less.


	14. Chapter 14

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 14_

_It is now one week later_

Kate was humming as she went from her room up to the Control Room so she could start her day and wasn't really paying attention to anything. Sex with Rick on a daily basis was proving to be mind-blowing. That man knew just what to do to her. She was pretty sure she didn't need to use her pheromones on him but she didn't really have that much control over them. She used them because she wanted him.

He'd even asked her a question with his arms wrapped around her from behind while she was in the bathroom. "You're amazing and I can't imagine my life without you, but I have a question."

Kate's mind went to something that they were far from being ready for. However, he hadn't asked her that. Rick asked his question, uncertain of what she would think. "Do you want me in your ass when we make love?"

She was relieved that it wasn't the question she was thinking of and fearing he would say. But as she thought about it now she was caught between being excited about the prospect and fearing what that would mean for them.

Kate answered his question with one of her own. "Do you want to be in my ass?"

"I want to please you and on Earth this is called anal sex. Some people do it a lot." Rick deflected from answering her question outright.

She turned in his arms to face him. "That isn't an answer." She repeated her question. "Do you want to be in my ass?"

"I've never done it so if you want to do something neither of us have done we can try it. Or we can find a balcony somewhere and have sex on it and risk getting caught," Rick said enticingly.

Kate was sure her heart had stopped beating. He was willing to elevate their sex to a plateau she hadn't even thought about with anyone. She was actually a little scared but she did answer him. "I'll ask the doctor for some lubrication. You can find a remote balcony and we can do both." She knew she was dumping a whole lot of pheromones again and she found herself being spun around and forced to bend over; she felt him ram his erection deep inside her in one swift stroke.

She was still smiling as she walked after having her last orgasm of the morning after being take from behind. She was sure her pheromones had a lot to do with it, but she wanted to think that he wanted her even without her pheromones.

"Alexis?" She was already up here which was a bit of a surprise. She was learning to really respect this alien girl who was her lover's daughter. She was brilliant and they wouldn't be where they were now without her. Her dog Dixie was also up here. She hadn't even tried yet so she thought now was a good time so she knelt down to pet the dog who let her.

"Hi, Kate. Have you done something?" Alexis was starting to notice that some of the women used makeup, but not all of them. She looked closer to see if Kate was wearing any.

Kate panicked, worried that she knew she was having sex on a daily basis with her father. If she hated that idea it was going to break her. "No nothing special." It was the truth since having sex every night and then again in the morning was now a standard thing. "How are you coming on this?"

Alexis squinted her eyes and looked at Kate. She was hiding something but if she wanted it hidden for now Alexis would let her keep her secret.

"I think I've got it, actually. I just need to do one last test. And I have a request." Alexis turned back to her long distance scanner that she had spent the last week trying to get to work so they could understand it.

"Anything. I…_we_ owe you." Kate couldn't think of anything she couldn't give her if she had it to give.

Alexis made her request, hoping Kate would grant her wish. "I was wondering if you would send another shuttle through the Portal to check on Earth. You don't have to actually go there. I just want to see."

Kate stepped in behind her and began rubbing both arms. "You're worried about the enemy and your home planet." Kate could understand that.

Alexis nodded and felt Kate turn her around and face her. "We haven't talked about this yet but it's time you knew. We're all that is left of the Orion race." Kate saw the look of shock on her face.

"The enemy came to our planet with just three motherships at first. Our military leaders had a secret, though. They'd found a Portal and were experimenting with it. The only address that worked was the one that came to this place.

"They sent a small team to check it out. While they were doing that the enemy showed up with twelve more motherships. Three was a real challenge for us. Fifteen was far more than we could ever hope to defeat.

"Our leaders rounded up some of the best of our race, brought them to the Portal, and sent us through with all the equipment they could gather on short notice. It took us two days to pass everything we have through the Portal.

"After the last of us were through they were going to blow up the place, bury the Portal under tons of stone and fight the enemy. They stood no chance and we all knew it. We can't contact them to find out anything. We may be the last of our race. I can understand why you want to know. …There's a strong chance that you and your father might be the last of your race." Kate did fear for them.

"So you'll do it?" Alexis really wanted to know. Earth was home. This place and the people had been nice so far, but she was a part of Earth.

Kate tapped her communicator to activate it. "Ranger Four, report to the Control Room. I have a mission for you." She tapped it again to end it.

"Thank you." Alexis didn't know how she was going to repay her for this but she would think of something.

"You said you had one more test to do." Kate brought her back to what she had talked about earlier.

"Oh, yeah." Alexis spun around. "Okay, if I have this right, this thing can spot ships in FTL and be light years away. I've also found a database of ship designs in the computer. You wouldn't believe how many ships are in there. Would you believe me if I told you that there's everything about a mothership in there?" Alexis turned her head to look at Kate since she was betting that was going to be a shock.

"You're serious?" Kate couldn't believe that. It was both good news and really bad news. They had nothing on who built this place or why they abandoned it when it still worked. At first her fear was that the people who built this place had fought them and lost. It was just that she knew that the enemy would have kept this place and made it theirs if they had won.

"Let's see." Kate watched her turn it on and start pressing panels. Suddenly eleven blinking groups of triangles that were overlapping each other showed up.

"What are those?" Kate pointed since the positioning suggest ships in formation though the mass of triangles made it difficult to tell just how many there were.

Alexis tapped one of them and it enlarged that target. "According to this it might be a mothership." Now Alexis was scared. If they lost their home planet they could just as easily lose this place.

"Let's see." She picked up her pad and draw what she saw, looking between her pad and the screen. "According to this they're called Vree. This ship is 3 miles long by 2 miles wide. Which is incredibly huge." Alexis couldn't fathom anything that big.

"Where are they going?" Kate inquired and then tapped her communication tag. "Howler, report to the Control Room immediately." She was going to need him since this was clearly Military.

"Ma'am?" Two men showed up.

Kate turned and at first didn't remember. "Your mission's gong to have to wait for now. Go wait in the conference room. I need to clear this with Howler."

"Yes, ma'am." They both headed for the conference room to sit down and wait.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Alexis had managed to zoom back out just as Howler showed up. "Ma'am?"

Dixie growled at him. She hadn't yet found her voice for barking or she would be. There was just something about this guy she didn't like. "DIXIE!" Alexis bent down and picked her up. "Sorry, she's just a puppy."

"Alexis has managed to get the long range scanner working. She's found 11 motherships in FTL going somewhere," Kate informed him.

Howler lowered his head. It was not news he needed to hear. "Going where?" If it was here they had trouble.

Alexis looked down at the floor. "I haven't figured that part out yet. Sorry." It wasn't as simple as that.

"How does she know they're motherships?" They could be anything.

Alexis tapped one of them to bring just it into better focus. Then she showed him her tablet. "This is one of the many ships that's in this thing's data base. There are actually a lot of ships in there. Ships, I'm guessing, they've met before. Whoever lived here before us," Alexis explained.

Howler took the pad tablet from her and looked it over. "We don't know where they're going?"

Alexis shook her head. "Sorry, I'm still working on that. I don't know why they made this thing so complex but it's a pain. Once I have it figured out you'll be the second person to know."

"Second?" He wanted to be the first.

"Okay, the third. I'll be first, Kate will be second and you'll be third, unless you happen to be here at the same time as Kate," Alexis told him.

Howler huffed out a laugh. At first when these two had arrived he was sure they were going to just be in the way and totally useless. Two more mouths to feed. Even worse this one was a child. Now that same child was why they were doing so well. Kate had been right about letting them come. He had no idea how, but he was now glad she had.

"There's one more thing. Alexis has requested a shuttle go through the Portal to her system to see what's happening to her home planet. I think we should grant her request, however since the enemy's there that makes it a Military matter and your decision. Ranger Four team is in the conference room waiting your decision," Kate said.

That had him thinking hard. Doing anything with the enemy around was a danger. They only had just so many of these shuttles and just so many people. It was just without this alien child they wouldn't be doing this good. At least not this fast if ever.

"Send them. They don't leave the planet where the Portal is. They don't go anywhere near her planet. If so much as one fighter heads their way they come right back here and we never go there again because they will have found the Portal which makes going there again a death sentence for who goes. Are we clear?" Howler looked at Alexis.

"Thank you." It was more than enough for Alexis.

Just as Howler was leaving Rick showed up. He walked right up next to Kate and wanted to kiss her but didn't. "What's up? He has the same serious looking face you two do."

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Rick was with everyone else that was normally on the Control Deck and waiting for Ranger Four to say something. Since the communication console was working now they had a secure communication method for a change. Alexis had even worked out how to send messages that were coded. It was just that they needed to find a way for the shuttle to decode them.

The 2 in Ranger Four were silent and that was starting to get to everyone. But the 2 in Ranger Four had a reason. A damn good reason.

They'd used the rings to try and hide behind and had only just sneaked out from behind them and did an active scan. "HOLY SHIT!" Instead of using power that they feared would be spotted they used what they hoped was simple maneuvering thrusters to sneak back behind the rocks that made of the rings of Saturn.

They also didn't dare communicate with anyone so once back behind the rings they slowly made their way back to the Portal, entered in, then stopped and twisted around so they could lower the back ramp and exit the shuttle.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"You're sure?" Kate asked them after they all listened to what these two had to say.

"Yes ma'am, clear as day. There were 6 motherships in orbit of the planet and 1 after the other there were 6 more headed for the planet. They got much closer and we could have touched them." They really didn't want to do that again.

Alexis sank into the chair she was sitting on. "We're doomed. They'll kill all of us." The United States had power and would do all they could to stop them. So did other countries. It was just that she had little faith that any country would actively help another. Not even for this.

"No, they won't," Kate countered. "The enemy needs bodies so they won't kill all of your people any more than they killed all of ours."

Even the doctor was up here since word had traveled fast. "The enemy doesn't eat us. For that to happen we need to be compatible enough to be eaten and there are far easier sources of food that are easier to get. What they need is a warm body. They plant an egg inside you and it moves around inside you, mostly inside blood vessels.

"Think of your body being an incubation machine. The egg itself doesn't hatch while inside you, either. Just before it hatches your body will reject it in any number of ways. It all depends on just where the egg is at the time. The mouth's the most common though other body openings can also be used." That had Kate cringing at the thought of an egg coming out of her pussy or out her ass. It was not a pleasant thought. Nor was thinking about all the people back home doing just that right now.

"Once it's hatched it starts to grow and search for food. It only causes death for the person about 50% of the time thereby allowing that person to be reinfected with another egg until eventually the person dies," Heuer explained.

"They won't kill off your people, they need you alive. That doesn't mean that your people will enjoy it," Kate added.

"The entire process is typically very painful depending on just where the egg travels since it can vary a lot from person to person." The doctor continued, "We've come to understand that for most people it will be at the base of the spine and work its way up and out your mouth after finding a way to go through various parts of your body. That's where the pain of having an egg inside you comes in."

"So what happens?" Alexis wasn't sure she understood.

"The fighters from the motherships will remove your ability to fight back and the enemy will come down to infect your people. They'll continue for as long as there are people for them to infect," Kate explained.

"Great, the human race effectively becomes cattle to be slaughtered so they can put their eggs into us." Rick had heard enough and was disgusted by it all.

"But why us? I mean why not use animals instead of people?" Alexis didn't see why humans had to be used. There were other animals on the planet.

"What are the largest animals on your planet? How many of them are there compared to the human race? It's all about numbers. Your people dominate the planet just like ours did. It's true they could and just might use the larger animals, but they don't want you dead. They need you alive to carry their eggs. There are more of you than there are any other animals. It's not personal," Doctor Heuer said.

"Can they be defeated? I mean their ships are huge and they have advanced technology." Alexis wanted to think Earth had a chance.

"The enemy doesn't create anything. Wait, no, that's not exactly right. They can build motherships, fighters, and anything else they need. But they don't…invent anything. Everything they have they got by stealing. They're smart enough to use what they steal and decide which is the best item to be duplicated.

"The motherships they use are from a different race as are the fighters and everything else they use. If they find something better they'll switch to that," Kate explained.

"Somewhere in a place we don't know anything about, they're making motherships and fighters and sending them out to other systems. Once they find a system that has what they need they call in other motherships until they have control over that planet. The more systems they control the more ships they can build and the more of them there are," Howler added.

"How many planets do they control? Just how many of them are there?" Alexis asked since there was soon going to be twelve of these ship around Earth.

Kate shook her head. "We don't know."

"Our intelligence agencies suggested there could be as many as a hundred or more. We really don't know. Our planet has been captured and yours is in the process of being captured. If 12 aren't enough they'll just send more until there are enough. They'll keep building until they run out of resources and can't infest people with eggs any longer," Howler said.

"It took just 15 ships for them to defeat us last we knew before we escaped through the Portal," Kate told them.

"The Portal for us is around Saturn hidden in the rings. Where was yours?" Alexis asked.

"We found it toppled over out in a desert. We lifted it back up and built an entire complex around it. It's partly why only we were sent through the Portal. No one else, thanks to the enemy fighters, could reach it," Howler growled, still angry at the Vree.

"We didn't even have the time to transport the best of us. Most of us just happened to be there already. We were simply in the right place at the right time. It's partly why I'm in charge of this expedition," Kate admitted.

"Women aren't typically in charge of anything. In this case Kate was the best choice from what was available." Howler still wasn't happy about it but at least he had some authority.

"I'm in overall charge of this expedition. Howler's in charge of everything Military. So long as I don't step on his toes it will remain that way." Kate knew her limitations for being in charge.

A beeping noise got everyone's attention. Alexis beat everyone to the spot. "The motherships have changed course. A pretty radical change, too. If I read this right, they aren't going to come anywhere near us." Though she wasn't sure just how close they were going to come in the first place.

"Earth." Howler had no trouble guessing where they were going. "If, as you say, your planet can put up a fight, the other motherships will have called for support."

That had Alexis thinking. "That would mean that this place is close enough to Earth for those ships to reach it."

"That also means that we might be next." Once they were done with Earth they would fan out and find them.

Kate began issuing orders. "Keep dialing at random, we need a backup plan for if or when they do find us and keep searching this place. Maybe there's something here that will help us for if they do."

Howler had his wish list. "Like a big fat weapon that can kill motherships in one shot."


	15. Chapter 15

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 15_

_It is now almost 2 months later_

Rick had almost moved into Kate's quarters that were actually larger than his. His clothes were still in his room so when he wanted to change he needed to go there. However, he spent all his time with Kate in her room, just like he was now.

She hummed as she settled down from still another orgasm. He was even still hard and inside her. She liked being on top and resting on top of him.

"You're thinking rather loudly," Rick commented as he held her tight to him.

"No, not really thinking at all." At least she hadn't been until he mentioned it. Now she was, though. She couldn't believe how hard she had or still was falling for an alien. Or maybe that was why she was so attracted to him. He was different. He wasn't green and he didn't have piercings all over his body. He didn't have the muscle mass most Orion males had, not that she cared. He was strong enough. Lord knows he was strong enough to keep up with her in bed or anywhere else they had sex.

Kate had actually let him talk her into having sex in a more risky location. It was a small risk but it was outdoors on a balcony.

After he had eaten her pussy and gotten her incredibly horny she had gotten on all fours and handed him a small bottle.

"What's this?" There wasn't a whole lot of it whatever it was.

"Lubricant. I want to try it. I want you in my ass." Kate had turned her head to see his reaction. He had simply smiled and spread the lubricant over his cock and then pressed it into her ass just a bit before pulling back out and adding still more lubricant. He had eventually used it all up.

Rick went slow since anyone's ass wasn't meant for this. He had to push a little to get past a barrier of some kind. Kate grunted when suddenly his cock had made it past her muscle. He was in and soon she felt him press ever deeper. At first all she wanted to do was push him back out. It reminded her of needing to use the bathroom.

It wasn't until he started pulling out and then back that it changed. Eventually she felt him pounding away in her ass. She was actually enjoying it finally. But it wasn't enough so she reached back to stroke her own clit.

Rick had cried out which told her that he had just climaxed inside her ass. She began stroking her clit even faster so she could join him.

"Now I know you're thinking of something." Rick had learned to read her a little.

That had Kate grinning and humming again. "Just remembering that first day you were in my ass."

"That was a very memorable day, that's for sure." Now she had him remembering it. "Do you want me in your ass again, like now." He still had an erection and was deep inside her.

"No." She was happy with where she was now. "Maybe tonight." Having him fucking her ass had become more of an item now that they had tried it. It was different and her ass was starting to adapt to having him inside her. They still needed lubricant and always would. It was just that he went into her a little easier now.

She was content and just starting to think about getting up and fucking him again when her communicator suddenly announced itself. Being interrupted during sex was really starting to piss her off.

"Yes." This had better be good.

"You need to come down to the west tower, deck 14 on the west side immediately." She recognized the doctor's voice even if he hadn't announced himself.

"What is it?" Their teams had been finally finding things all over the place. They still hadn't as yet found the power room but they were finding other things.

"Just get down here immediately and bring Rick with you." Heuer ended the communication.

She wanted to question how he knew Rick was with her. She thought they were doing a relatively good job of hiding the fact that they were lovers. She didn't need some of the males harassing him or her. She worried that not everyone was okay with her being involved with an alien.

"Sounds important." He was betting his daughter had found something again. Every time a team found something they always called her first and Kate second.

"We better go find out what she's found this time." Kate slipped off of him and instantly felt the loss of him being inside her. She loved having him pay attention to her breasts and give her orgasms just by that alone. Or how much she loved having his face planted firmly between her thighs. She simply loved having him inside her. She loved the feeling of having him sliding in and out of her. There was just something about it.

She was grinning as she caught him watching her get dressed. He obviously found her desirable and sexy and she was happy that he did.

She even let him hold her hand all the way down to that section of the city.

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"What have you found now?" Alexis had worked her way down to the location she had been given and went inside. In there she saw what looked like another lab to her. It was going to be the second one. She was still working on the first 1. It was incredibly complex and used words that she couldn't translate into any language. She didn't know what the place did but it looked really complex and that had her hooked. She had an instinctual need to learn so learning what this place did just came naturally for her.

This one had a console, something that looked like a coffin or a large tube that might be filled with something. There were also a number of displays and more panels along 2 of the walls.

"Let's see what you found." Alexis moved behind the console as one of them stepped away so she could. She easily found the power button and pressed it. It naturally had everything lighting up and powering up.

She was also getting better at reading their language. A lot of it was still a mystery but she was getting better at it. "It talks about…something. Another new word that I can't translate." That alone had her hooked just like the previous room. It also had her lifting up the pad that always went with her.

"Dixie, no!" Dixie was getting bigger and was more than big enough to go up and down the stairs. She was also learning that everything in this place presented her with new smells that just had to be investigated. In this case it was whatever was in the tall canister.

She also knew the word no and went over to sit next to her best buddy in the whole wide world. She'd also gotten used to all the smells that the Orions made. That included all the pheromones that seemed to be everywhere, except from her best buddy and Rick and most of the males.

Alexis left the console and started looking at the displays. "I think this talks about percentages. I just don't know percentages of what. This looks like that tube over there." Alexis tapped the symbol and looked at the tube. It just sat there so she moved to it next.

"Watch that screen for me. If anything changes yell," Alexis pointed as one of the men filled with piercings moved to where she'd been.

Alexis looked the tube over. She saw wires and even tubing coming out of it. "It might be a gas of some kind. Just where is the gas going?" She followed one of the tubes into the wall. She stepped around Dixie who was following every move she made to get back to the control console.

"This is power, I want you to press it when I tell you," Alexis instructed the only other person down here with her. Alexis went back to the tube and even ran her hands over it. She and everyone else had long since learned that anything she touched came alive and powered up. Just not this time.

"It looks like there's a seam." She ran her hand over it to check. "Okay, press the power button." He pressed it and everything powered back up. "Any change over there?" She gestured to the man at the screen who shook his head.

"This thing is involved somehow. Just what is inside you?" Alexis murmured. It was just standing there and leaning up against the back wall just a bit. The very top seemed to be touching it at the back. There didn't appear to be anything else around it. Just the central console and those 2 screens.

Alexis looked it over again and decided that this place could wait until later but ran her hand down the side one last time. When she did it popped open and let out a cloud of vapor.

That had Dixie barking at it since at roughly 4 months old now she had learned she had a voice and this thing, whatever it was, deserved to be barked at. Her bark startled the man at the console and he jumped, his hand hitting several panels at the same time; chagrined, he quickly put his hand behind his back.

Alexis watched it open and looked inside. It was all white with cushions all around the interior. Even the front. "Now this is interesting. What are you?" Alexis slowly reached in and felt the cushions. They were really soft and molded to her finger instantly and then slowly went back to their original shape when she withdrew it.

Alexis got bolder and got a lot closer so she could get an up close look at it. There wasn't a space for arms or legs but the top did have what looked like a head to her. "This might be Medical. Call Doctor Heuer and see if he has time to come look at it. Maybe he knows what this can do. This just might be an experimental healing pod." It looked to her like a person would fit inside it perfectly.

"He says he can be down in about an hour," the man at the console with his hands behind his back told her. Alexis nodded absently. She had an hour to try and be able to tell him something.

"Any changes on that screen?" Alexis asked the other one who shook his head. Alexis now had her back to the tube. "It still looks like it's meant to hold someone to do something. …Dixie, just stay right there and be a good girl." She had gone back to looking around and sniffing everything.

Alexis took an instinctual tiny step back and found herself tripping over something. Then she fell backward, straight into the tube. It promptly closed on her and began sealing itself with her inside.

"HEY! Let me out. LET ME OUT!" Alexis screamed as the white cushions start to surround her all around, including her face. "Press the power button!" Alexis yelled just as the stuff enveloped her head and covered her mouth, nose, and ears. She even felt something pressing into her ass and into her vagina.

She mumbled instead of yelling until she began to feel sleepy. She had already tried moving her hands and her legs but they were trapped and refused to move. Still she tried again and fought to keep her eyes open until she couldn't any longer and didn't feel the cushion stuff press against her eyelids. She fell asleep.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"What have you got? And where's Alexis?" They needed her, she was the most precious resource this place had. One of them pointed at the tube where Dixie was lying on the floor in front of. That was where her best buddy had gone so she was staying until she came back out.

"I don't understand." Kate didn't get it but watched Rick step over to it and look it over. "Explain." She needed answers.

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All 5 of them were still down there when the doctor showed up again after being called away for an injury and he was told again all they knew like Kate and Rick had been told.

"Alexis is in this thing. She said something about wondering if it was a medical pod. Why would it be down here and not in Medical if it was?" That didn't make any sense to the doctor. "She said something about experimental." It was all he had.

"They might have been designing something for Medical. But did they finish the design and what is it doing?" The doctor was now starting to get worried. Kate was already worried and Rick was losing his mind.

"Can we not just press the power button." Rick had his finger right over it until Kate snatched him and pulled him into her to get him away from it. "What did you do that for? We have to get her out of that thing." He was furious. He might be falling hopelessly in love with her but that didn't mean he couldn't be angry with her.

Kate argued her case. "For all we know killing the power will do more harm than good."

"We don't even know what it's doing. All the more reason to kill the power," Rick retorted angrily.

"It this thing's an experimental medical pod it might not recognize her race and do nothing and release her. Or if it is functional it might find something that needs fixing and fix it. Stopping it in the middle of something is never a good idea. Would you want me to stop removing one of your organs part way and then just leave you there?" The doctor tried to reason with him in the only way he knew how. Medically speaking was his method.

That had Rick relaxing and felt Kate let go of him. "Fine. …So what is it doing to her? Or is it one of those hibernation pods." Various movies references were all Rick had.

"Hibernation pod. Interesting." The doctor liked the idea but it also presented a problem. How to get her out of it if it was.

"She wanted me to watch this screen. She talked about percentages," the other man added. He had left that out the first time.

That had all 3 of them moving to the screen to look. "That might be this bar here." The doctor started to touch it only to have Kate intercept his hand.

"Some of these things are touch screen." She didn't need him touching it and doing something they didn't want it to do. Alexis was just too precious to lose.

"Sorry." He hadn't thought about that. "I think we have no choice but to let it do whatever it's doing and monitor this entire place 25 hours a day. Keep an eye on that screen and watch for changes." It was all he had.

Rick turned to look at the tube with his daughter inside. Kate rubbed his arm. "She'll be fine, she has to be. I'll have 2 people assigned to this room the entire time, no matter how long it takes." Kate tried to reassure him.

He looked down at Dixie who was just sitting there staring at the tube.

"I'll even have Micheal be one of them when he has the time. I think she likes him." Actually she was pretty sure they were lovers but hadn't interfered.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Rick was holding a naked Kate next to him in what had become their bed in their room. He just hadn't moved his clothes and was afraid to push her to move in.

"Alexis will be fine." They weren't making love even if she did have him naked in bed with her. "She has to be."

That had Rick turning to look at her.

"I care what happens to her, Rick. Don't look so surprised. She's your daughter and you're important to me so that makes her important to me. Besides I like her." Since they weren't making love Kate snuggled in a little closer.

"What do you think is happening to her?" Rick wanted her opinion.

"I honestly don't know. The doctor may be right. It may just be a simple medical pod. What it's doing if anything at all…, I don't know. This place is amazingly complex, full of advanced equipment. Even with her help I think we've only just scratched the surface. We still haven't searched even a 3rd of this place." Kate could only hope for the best. Even for all their searching they still hadn't found the power source.

Rick was quiet for a while and Kate was starting to think he might have fallen asleep. She still wanted to make love to him.

"You said you came here to get away from them. So why come here? If you had ships and know about FTL, couldn't you have just used them and gotten away?" What made coming here so special?

"They may have done just that. I don't know. The complex with the Portal was isolated and in the middle of nowhere. By the time anyone could get out or get in, it was too late. It was far too dangerous." She had argued that everyone needed to come through the Portal. She had lost because people needed to remain behind and destroy the entire complex and bury the Portal. Not leave anything behind that the enemy could use to find them.

"So there may be others." Rick wanted to give her some hope.

"Perhaps." She doubted it greatly, though. The largest of their ships were military and the military wasn't going to cut and run for any reason. That was not the Orion way.

Since he wasn't starting anything Kate decided to take matters into her own hand. Literally. She reached down to take him hand and work at getting him hard. She wanted him and was certain she was sending out pheromones to make him interested in making love to her.

She started smiling when she had him hard in no time at all. Typically she was on top right where she wanted to be but squealed happily when Rick was suddenly on top of her.

"You want to be fucked, don't you?" Rick questioned her.

"Take me, babe, I want you inside me so bad." Kate smiled up at him.

"Babe?" That was new, though he liked it.

"It's your new name. Deal with it." He didn't have a choice in the matter anyway.

He lifted her legs up high and thrust his erection deep inside her. It had her gasping from the feeling. She was soon using her own hands on her breasts. She loved the feeling and she wanted to tease him a little since she knew he loved her breasts.

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Kate was feeling so much better after having 2 orgasms while he fucked her. She was calming down as Rick slipped out of her and then got off the bed. At first she thought he might be headed for the bathroom but he went the wrong way.

"Where are you going, babe?" She was curious.

"To get the lube. You want to be fucked so I'm going to fuck that fine ass of yours while you're still horny and pumping out those pheromones of yours." Rick had learned that he didn't really smell them, not that he knew why. He'd also learned that if his erection didn't go down immediately it was because of her pheromones.

Kate sucked in a breath. She scrambled to get up on all fours on the bed and even wiggled her ass at him as he came back. "Fuck my ass, babe. I want you. I want you so badly." She couldn't wait for the orgasms that were sure to come.

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Kate was totally satisfied as a sleeping Rick lay next to her. She was curled up next to him as close as she could get. She couldn't stop the tears that had suddenly started. She just stared at his face and looked it over.

"I love you. I love you so very much. Please don't leave me." Suddenly her life was all wrapped up into him. There was with their 1 death now a woman that didn't have a mate so she had a reason to be a little worried. Even if it was a small worry.

"Be my mate, please." She didn't know what that meant to him. To her it meant she was his forever. It was going to be her first and last tattoo. She was even willing to have it placed where everyone could see it. She just had to talk him into getting his.

"I need you." She didn't think she was pumping out pheromones this time. This time it was all mental and not physical. She hadn't really thought about needing or wanting a mate to spend her life with. She had even come here as the only female that didn't have someone. She hadn't cared then. She did now.


	16. Chapter 16

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 16_

_It is now a week later_

Kate was in the Control Room and she had no idea just where Rick was at the moment but she could guess. "Anything on the scanner?" she inquired. Thanks to Alexis the thing was working perfectly and like all the other stations it had these little tags in their language telling them what each one did.

"Nothing, ma'am," was the instant answer.

Kate was happy for that. No more enemy motherships. They hadn't bothered to check on Earth again. They already had 6 motherships there already or headed there plus they were betting the ones they had seen earlier. Earth was screwed even if it didn't know it yet or maybe they did.

Then Howler showed up. "Something on your mind?" Kate asked him.

"Just checking on what you know about Alexis." He might be the leader of the Military but he wasn't stupid.

"Nothing's changed. She's still inside that thing. I've got 2 people watching her and will have until this is resolved." The idea that it wasn't going to know what she was and spit her back out was now a thought for history.

Howler had a 2nd reason to be here. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"You mean asking Rick to be my mate? Yes, I'm sure. You have a problem with that?" She was the leader here. She would be bonded to whomever she chose.

"He's an alien. He may not truly understand." Howler couldn't stop her but she needed to be sure.

"I've explained everything to him. He didn't object. We're doing this. I love him and I'm keeping him." Kate had made her choice and she wasn't scared.

Howler was interrupted from making another comment. "Ma'am, there's a message from the lab. They say the bar has almost reached 100%. They think it may only be minutes."

"About time! Alert Doctor Heuer. Let's go." Kate moved as fast as she could for the lab.

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It seemed like everyone showed up at the same time and tried to get in through the door at the same time. It was a little comical.

"What have we got?" Kate wanted an update.

"The bar on the screen is just above 99% now. It should only be a few minutes at this rate," was the answer she got.

"Have we figured out yet just what this thing's doing to her?" Kate asked, thinking this thing was going to be locked away behind a sealed door and never touched again. Especially if anything happened to her.

"Any second now," 1 of them announced and all eyes turned to the pod. Even Dixie was still watching the pod and so far refused to leave. Rick had no choice but to bring her something to eat and clean up after her.

"100%," he announced and turned his attention to the pod. Except nothing happened.

"Great, it's broken." Rick was just sure something was going to go really wrong.

"It's probably just cycling through a checklist or something," the doctor suggested, trying to keep everyone calm, especially Rick.

Then the pod popped and a lot of fog or smoke began to flow out followed by the front opening fully. Once all the fog dissipated everyone could see her inside the pod.

"What the?" What Rick saw wasn't what he expected.

"WOW!" Kate didn't know what was happening but this wasn't it, though she liked how she looked.

"Pumpkin?" What he saw didn't look anything like his daughter.

They all watched as she opened her eyes and then squinted followed by rubbing them. "Hi, Dad! …Kate." Then she saw others and looked around and saw everyone looking at her with weirdly concerned faces.

"What happened? Where am I?" Alexis looked around again and saw a lot of white around her. "That pod." It came to her so she stepped out and reached out to steady herself and saw..._green. _The green was a hand that moved when she wanted it to. Then she put both hands in front of her face and saw nothing but green. "I'M _GREEN!_ Why am I green?"

"You were–" Kate started to explain.

Then Alexis looked down and squealed, "I'VE GOT BOOBS!" She was suddenly happier than she'd been in her entire life. "AND THEY'RE GREEN!" They weren't just breasts, either. They were perfectly shaped without an iota of sag. Alexis put her hands on them and could feel that. She also saw that the shirt she was wearing was in tatters. Then she saw all the men and this time tried to hide her breasts using her hands.

"Okay, everyone out!" Kate ordered. "Everyone!" She began pushing everyone out including the lone woman of the group.

"Not you, babe, you can stay." Kate grabbed his arm and stopped him. Once everyone else was out she closed the door and turned back to Alexis.

"Why am I green?" Alexis still didn't understand and actually started rubbing to see if it would come off. That caused her long hair to come forward a little. Far enough for her to see it. She got a handful of hair and pulled it forward. "RED! Why is my hair red!?" It wasn't just any red. It was a bright red like someone had used far too much coloring.

"Alexis." Kate tried to figure out how to explain.

"What's going on!?" Alexis wanted answers.

"What do you last remember?" Kate inquired.

"I was… DIXIE! Hi, Dixie." Alexis bent over so she could pet her only to see her back away from her. "Dixie?" Alexis's feelings were hurt. Dixie was her best buddy.

"Alexis, we need to talk. What do you last remember?" Kate worked at getting her attention.

Alexis was still hurt that Dixie was suddenly rejecting her. "WHAT!" Now she was mad and turned her anger on Kate.

"You went into the pod, didn't you?" Kate started with that.

"NO! …Maybe. I didn't mean to. Dixie started barking. I fell backwards and it closed around me. What did it do to me?" Alexis looked at herself again and saw nothing but green. However she saw huge breasts on her chest and then spotted her dad and put her hands on them again.

"Turn around, Dad." Alexis spun around so he couldn't see them.

"I've seen breasts before and I've seen everything since you were little." He had changed her diapers and cleaned literally every crack and crevice of her.

"**DAD!**"Alexis yelled at him this time.

Rick rolled his eyes and turned his back on her. "Fine." He did have to admit that she was different besides being green.

Kate came forward and put an arm around her. "You've been in that pod for a week and you had us all worried. So what do you remember? Do you remember why you came down here?" She looked a lot like an Orion now, save for her hair color.

"Your team found something and got me down here. I thought that pod was filled with gas at first. It has wires and hoses attached to it. That panel on the wall talked about percentages and then I found myself in the pod and I was out again. And green." Alexis looked at her hands and then down at her breasts again.

She had dreamed of having breasts for a long time. Now she had them and they were really big. It was just that they were also green. "What did it do to me?" Alexis asked yet again.

"That's what we're going to find out. We need to get you to Medical." That was where she was hoping they would all get answers. "Babe, give her your shirt." She needed to cover up.

"My shirt?" Why would she want him to hand over his shirt?

"So your daughter can cover up or do you want her walking around topless?" Kate smiled as he striped off his shirt as fast as he could.

The second Kate opened the door they saw almost literally everyone outside "She's fine, we're going to Medical to find out why she's green now." Kate wrapped an arm around her and began walking her toward Medical with everyone behind them.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Doctor Heuer had something new to use and Alexis was presently lying on a different bed while he used the machine that Alexis herself had taught him how to use as he pressed panels that had a language he understood on them now.

Over an hour later Kate and Rick were with him to find out what he had found. "How is she, and why is she green?" Kate was reasonably certain that she knew the answer to the last question but wanted to hear it from him.

"What happened to her?" Rick wanted to know because he was worried about her.

"I don't know how but she's an Orion now. Her blood work matches ours. Her skin color matches ours perfectly. Even all of my scans of her internal organs matches ours equally perfectly. What I can't really explain is her hair color. She is the first Orion I've ever heard of to have red hair. From her eye color to her finger and toenails. Even her…" Doctor Heuer looked at Rick and risked it. "Even her pubic hair is a bright red just like the hair on her head, eyebrows, and eyelashes."

"Orion." Kate had guessed but wasn't 100% positive. "What about her pheromone glands?" She needed to be told about them and just what they could do to a male or she was going to end up raped. Possibly gang-raped.

"Yes," the doctor answered quickly. "Those, too. She isn't presently excited so she isn't emitting any but it's just a matter of time."

"What about her brain? Has that been changed as well?" Kate asked. Had they lost the person that could make everything they found not work until they themselves figured it out for themselves?

"We've asked her a number of questions and her memory appears to be intact. As for her continuing to do what she's been doing, we'll just have to wait and see," Doctor Heuer said.

"Is she fertile?" Kate inquired. Could she get pregnant if she was raped?

"Yes, she just hasn't passed an egg yet to be fertilized. She can get pregnant by any of our males now. She, for all intents and purposes, is an Orion now. How the machine did it or why it chose Orion, I have no idea and apparently neither does she. She had no idea what the machine did. We do now but not how it works or why it chose Orion." The doctor and Alexis were clueless about that.

"Can she be changed back to human?" Rick wasn't sure he wanted his daughter to be an Orion. She had been born human and that's what she should be.

"In theory, yes. We just don't know anything about the machine, how it works, or if she can be changed back. Even if she could be changed back I'm not sure we should try." He had a reason for that.

"Why not? What have you got against humans?" Rick was angry since he was thinking his race had just been insulted.

"Babe." Kate put a hand on his bare chest. He needed to calm down before he did or said something stupid.

"I don't hate humans. It's more about if her system can survive another change in race. Even if we think it can I wouldn't recommend it. At least not anytime soon. She is going to need to build up her strength. At the moment even for an Orion she's somewhat weak," Heuer explained.

Kate used the same hand to tap his chest and then glared at him.

"I'm…sorry." Rick tiredly scrubbed his hand over his face. He should've known better based on how these people had treated him and his daughter. "She's my daughter and it's my job to protect her. Even if it costs me my life." He would die for her and he knew it.

"Can we talk to her?" Kate would like to ask her a few questions.

"She's fine. She should probably eat and rest soon but other than that she's fine. Right now she's concerned about why her dog doesn't like her any more." That had him turning to see Dixie sitting there looking into the space.

"She looks and probably smells different. She doesn't understand," Rick said.

Kate left Doctor Heuer and went inside with the intent of asking Alexis some questions.

Rick followed her but stopped to pick up Dixie before going inside.

"How do you feel?" Kate asked when she reached her.

"Fine, different, stupid." She'd been human and now she was an Orion. About the only thing she saw any good out of this was that she had boobs and they were big ones at that.

"Is there a mirror? I haven't seen what I look like now." Alexis wanted to see herself. She was green with red hair but what else had changed and would she even recognize herself any more?

"Sure I'll find you one." Kate patted her arm and left her and Rick who was holding the dog to find a mirror she could hold.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." She was sure he would be furious with her.

"Don't be sorry. I'm just glad you're alive. I dreamed up all kinds of things while you were in that thing. My biggest fear was that I would never get to talk to you again. I dreamed that it was sucking you dry like a mechanical vampire or something." That was just one of the things he had dreamed up. They were all bad.

Alexis smiled and chuckled softly. "You would." It sounded like her dad. "Dixie." Alexis reached out her arms but Dixie didn't try to get into them which hurt in ways she couldn't explain.

"It's me, girl, I swear. I just look different. …Dad?" Alexis kept her arms out and smiled wide as her dad put Dixie into her arms. Alexis pulled her into her body and held her close.

"Hi, puppy. Has Dad been feeding you?" Alexis looked her over and started petting her like she always did.

"And cleaning up her messes. She's been moping around for the last week," Rick informed her.

"Did you miss me? That's sweet. I missed you, too." Alexis kissed her fur and was content that she wasn't trying to get out of her arms even if she wasn't acting normal.

Kate was back. "Here you go." She handed over a small mirror for her to use.

Alexis slipped one of her hands from around Dixie and took it. "WOW!" Alexis moved the mirror around to try and see everything. She even opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue, then smiled widely so she could see her teeth. Her red hair was really bright and striking against her now green skin and green eyes. Even her white teeth somehow looked whiter. Then she let go of Dixie so she could run a finger across an eyebrow. They used to be sort of orange like her hair. Now they were just as red as the hair on her head. She put her arm back around Dixie who hadn't moved.

"I don't even recognize myself." She was completely different. Her face somehow looked fuller to her. Then she let go of Dixie again and ran a finger over her lips. She knew she wasn't wearing lipstick but her lips looked redder now.

"You're gorgeous." Rick thought she was still very pretty even if he was biased.

"He's right, you are very pretty. That's something else we need to talk about." Kate needed to tell her something very serious.

"You are an Orion woman now and that means you have pheromone glands. All Orion women have them along with a very select few of our men. When we are sexually interested in someone or just want to have sex with him for any reason we emit these pheromones. It causes _any_ male to want us. They can't resist us. They will have sex with us because they can't help themselves. In the right situation it could cause all the men in the room to want you. It is possible it could lead to you being raped by all of them unless that was what you wanted to happen.

"You're going to have to learn to be very careful or you'll be having sex a lot, even if you don't want to," Kate warned.

"Any male?" Alexis began smiling since she was guessing it even worked on her dad.

"Yes," Kate answered quickly and then saw where she was looking. "Yes, any male."

"Uh-huh. Something you want to tell me, Dad?" Alexis was grinning wide now and even Kate was starting to grin.

"Yes! Get your mind out of the gutter, young lady. You might be Orion now but I'm still your father." Rick wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

"I asked your father to be my mate," Kate revealed and watched Rick get nervous which had her grinning even wider.

"Mate. Is that like marriage?" Alexis queried and saw her dad start to look flustered. Alexis had guessed that these two liked each other, just not how far they'd taken it. "Can you get me something to eat, Dad? I'm starving. I haven't had anything to eat in a week."

"I'll stay and watch her," Kate promised and they both watched him walk away so he could get her something to eat.

"We need to talk," Alexis said. Now Kate was worried. Did she object to him being her mate? She needed for Alexis to be happy about this, not hate her.

"Dad was young, well a lot younger. He'd met someone and had fallen in love with her, or so he told me. He asked her to marry him. Be his mate, I guess. Her answer was to run away with her parents and never talk to him again." Alexis paused so Kate could take all that in.

It had Kate's heart hurting a little for him. She feared being rejected by him when she had finally asked him to his face when he was awake to answer.

"Then he met Mom. My mother. She was different. Mom was an actress like those in the movies. She thought she was pretty good or so I'm told. She would do anything to get a part. Anything." That part of her mother disgusted her and she didn't have good thoughts about her mother for that reason.

"She wanted a part and decided the way to get it was to have sex with him while married to my dad. The guy she thought would get her the part was married like she was. However they were having sex at his place." Alexis ceased speaking for a moment so she could get this right.

Kate for her part was starting to see where this was going.

"Mom was likely on top of him at the time when his wife came home." Alexis saw Kate begin to shake her head. "She found them but didn't say anything." That had Kate opening her eyes wide. If her mate was cheating on her she would have killed both of them.

"Instead she went into the kitchen and got a big butcher knife and came back to the bedroom. She then stabbed Mom in the back over and over again. I never saw the pictures the police took but I have a good enough imagination." She could see her mom lying there on the bed in a huge pool of blood with a large number of stab wounds in her back.

"Dad married Mom because he got her pregnant. …With me. I don't think he ever loved her but he had gotten her pregnant so he wanted to give me a family. A mommy and a daddy. Instead it was just us. I was still just a baby so Dad raised me all on his own." Alexis stopped.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Kate wasn't sure what it was.

"Dad means everything to me. He's my best friend. We don't tell each other lies for any reason no matter how badly the truth hurts. I don't want to see him hurt. Gina, his editor at Black Pawn Publishing, had him going out with all these women but he never came home with any of them. He never dated and he never talked about anyone. The papers made up lies but I ignored them since I knew better," Alexis paused. "Please don't hurt him. He's been hurt enough."

Kate smiled; it was touching and she loved Alexis a little more for it. "I have no intention of hurting your father. I love him and I want him as my mate for life. I gave up having a mate a long time ago so that I could be looked at as being serious. Not just another pheromone emitting Orion woman who was looking for a good time or have sex with as many guys as possible.

"I was sure I was going to live my life alone until you two showed up. The second I saw him I wanted him. He is the most handsome and amazing male I have ever met. I want to be his mate for life and would never hurt him for any reason. I'll die first," Kate swore, telling her the truth.

"Mate, huh?" Alexis grinned since she had no idea just what that all entailed.

"Tattoo and all," Kate nodded.

"Tattoo? Just where and what does it look like?" Alexis was sure this was going to be good.

Kate leaned down and whispered it all to her. Alexis began laughing hard and was still laughing just as Rick showed up with something for her to eat.

Seeing the two women he loved most getting along so well made his heart soar. The fact that Alexis was laughing also helped. It meant she was comfortable around Kate.

"So what are we laughing about?" He wanted in on it.

"You, Dad, just you." Alexis laughed even harder and Kate grinned until she finally began laughing because she couldn't help it. Then she laughed even harder when she saw the look on his face.

Even Dixie was up and barking at all the laughter.


	17. Chapter 17

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 17_

Rick had listened to why those two were laughing and he was now grumbling. "I need a drink." The Orions had brought some alcohol and naturally someone somewhere was making his own. However Rick had brought a couple of his own bottles so he headed to his room.

"That was fun." Alexis was all smiles and went back to petting Dixie who was now laying back down and seemed to be content right where she was.

She also had a question though. "Kate, you talked about pheromones and my ability to make them when I'm…interested in someone."

"Yes, I don't know of any woman who can completely control them. I certainly can't. I had to get away from your father at first." She was sure that if she had stayed every male in the place would fight to get at her. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration but that didn't mean she was going to have a problem.

"You also said males can create these pheromones." Alexis was starting to worry.

"A few, but it's very rare. I'm not sure I've ever met one, though it's possible. …Why?" If she was thinking what she was suddenly thinking, she was going to kill him.

"Is Micheal one of these men?" There, she had asked.

"I… Are you two sexually active?" Now she knew she was going to kill him.

Alexis gave her a weak smile for a yes. Then her eyes opened wide. "He is, isn't he? He…he!" Oh, she was so going to kill him. "I lost my virginity to him. I thought it was because I wanted him. Now I know it's because he used his pheromones on me!" Alexis growled and sat up, forcing Dixie to move on the bed. Then she jumped off and started marching away.

"Where are you going?" Kate was pretty sure she knew the answer and if she and Alexis were right, she wanted in on a piece of the action.

"To kill someone," Alexis stated matter-of-factly and kept walking. She'd been used, taken advantage of because of his pheromones. He hadn't forced her to have sex with him, not exactly, but it amounted to the same thing in her mind. Yes, she had enjoyed it. But was that because she truly had enjoyed it or was it just another part of his pheromones? Either way she was going to kill him.

Kate tapped her communicator. "Control, have a team find Micheal and detain him."

"Yes, ma'am. May we ask why, ma'am?" This hadn't happened since they had been there, so why now?

"Because someone's about to kill him before I can." Kate tapped it again, missing the, "Yes, ma'am," the person had said. Kate began walking with determination and hoped she was going a different direction than Alexis was. If she was right behind Alexis she would be too late.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"MICHEAL!" Alexis had found him and kept marching toward him.

Micheal saw a very interesting Orion woman headed his way. He'd never seen her before. She was pretty and he kind of liked the brilliant red hair. But he had never seen her before in his life. He stopped and waited for her to reach him.

Alexis grinned since he was just standing there. She was going to get in the first shot and she was going to make it a good one. A really damn good one. The weasel was even smiling a little.

She was within range. She reared back, swung her right arm around, and punched her fist right into his nose. Micheal went flying a short ways. They both heard a bone crunching sound.

"OW! Ow, ow, ow." Alexis held her hand. She hadn't really anticipated that. But then this was the very first person she had ever struck in anger. Alexis was spinning in place, holding her injured hand. She stopped when she saw him pick himself up off the floor. There was blood on his face and it was running from his nose onto his shirt.

He also looked a little off balance. Alexis was still pissed as hell so she took two steps and swung her leg up and into his crotch. The look of pain on his face and the sound he made was so very satisfying.

She also watched as he fell to his knees with both hands cradling his crotch. Since her hand hurt and his crotch wasn't available for another kick, she chose his face once more and swung her right leg and did her best to get her foot to come in contact with his nose again.

She was a little off and ended up hitting mostly his cheek. But it did cause him to fall to the floor after crying out in pain yet again. Now he was lying there with one hand over his crotch and another one on his face.

"Ow!" The movement had caused Alexis to move her hand again and that caused more pain.

"BASTARD! You used your pheromones on me! You took my virginity from me!" Alexis yelled and ignored the people that had started to surround them. "I can't get that back and give it to someone else. You stole something from me. You bastard." She was still furious with him and stepped up, rearing back with her right leg and slamming her foot into his unprotected midsection.

"OW!" Now her foot hurt in addition to her hand. Alexis started limping around.

Micheal moved one hand from one wounded section to the new one and tried to curl up and protect everything from the next hit.

Her hand hurt and now her foot hurt as well, yet she was still seething with anger. So she limped back over to him and saw his face was unprotected again. This time she used her left foot to kick him with. Problem with that plan was that her right foot hurt and putting all of her weight on that foot caused pain and her aim was a little off. All she got was a glancing blow.

Still it had him crying out from the new pain.

"ALEXIS!" Kate had caught up to her after she had been informed that there was a fight just outside of the cafeteria. Kate wrapped her arms around her and pulled her away.

Alexis's fury was unabated. "LET **GO!** I'M NOT FINISHED!"

"I think you've done enough." Kate saw a fair amount of blood and it looked like it was all Micheal's.

"I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED YET! Now let go!" Sadly, trying to break free caused pain for her hand and her foot.

"Someone get Medical up here," Kate called out and pulled Alexis a little farther away.

"Is he dead yet?" Alexis asked; she could feel the rush fading. She turned to Kate and began crying heavily. Kate held her tight and rubbed her back.

"Not yet, but he's going to wish he was." Between what Alexis had done and what she wanted to do to him he was going to wish he was. Alexis's crying turned into heartrending sobs. Kate's best response was to just hold her.

Alexis was still crying when the medical team arrived and took Micheal away just as Howler showed up to find out just what the hell was going on. He'd been called away from a perfectly good bed and some really great sex.

"What happened?" He wasn't in charge here, but Micheal was one of his team so he thought he needed to be told.

"Help me get Alexis down to Medical and I'll explain." Alexis went with Kate willingly enough and had even stopped crying. She was down to just sniffling.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

By the time they reached Medical Kate and Howler found out that Micheal was in surgery with Dr. Heuer. That left Alexis in the capable hands of Dr. Drake.

"What happened here?" Kate still had a tight hold on Alexis.

"Not exactly sure but she's the reason Micheal's in surgery. I think she broke her hand and maybe her foot. Definitely the hand, not so sure about the foot," Kate explained.

"Well let's get her on the table so we can take a look." He was enjoying the new equipment around here just as much as the others.

Kate and Howler stood there and watched him work.

"Her hand's definitely broken. Her foot just has a minor sprain and will heal over time. As for the hand, we're going to need to fuse it back together." He gave Alexis a mild sedative and moved her to another table where another new piece of equipment began knitting her hand back together.

It took a few minutes. "There, all done. Good as new. She's going to feel some discomfort for a while. Likely a few days. I hope she's left handed because she's going to be. We can let her rest. Now tell me what happened?" His curiosity was at its peak.

"Sorry, Doctor, personal. Let's just say Micheal had it coming." Kate didn't feel like telling him. Besides what had happened to Alexis was terribly personal and didn't need to be spread to everyone.

"I hope it was worth it." One was in surgery and the other was hurt. He left the two of them to check on another patient.

Howler looked at Kate. "Now you can tell me." Micheal was one of his so he had a right to know.

"Your word that you won't spread this around." Kate knew he had a right to know why one of his men was in surgery but that didn't mean he could tell everyone else. Howler nodded and Kate proceeded to tell him what Micheal had done while on Earth.

He had heard of Orion women being raped because of her pheromones. This, though, was the first he had ever heard of a male with pheromones taking advantage of a female. Even if it was an alien female. Even if Alexis wasn't a complete alien any longer.

He wasn't sure just what to say. On Orion they were all used to pheromones and just what they could do. Being forced to have sex with someone was actually a little commonplace. The female would use pheromones and simply get more than she bargained for.

He did realize this was different. Alexis wasn't or hadn't been Orion or aware of what pheromones could do.

"I'll try and arrange for him to be as far away from Alexis as possible. And I can promise that he won't tell a soul and neither will I," Howler assured Kate.

"I appreciate that." Kate watched him leave and went back to stand next to Alexis who was sleeping peacefully. Then much to her surprise she heard whimpering and looked down to see Dixie standing there. This was where Alexis had left her, after all.

"Alexis will be fine," Kate said, only to continue to hear whimpering. "Fine, only if you promise to stop doing that." It wasn't a sound she liked to hear. So she picked Dixie up and put her next to Alexis.

It still left her with one problem that needed to be dealt with. Kate tapped her communicator. "Babe, can you come down to Medical? Alexis needs your attention." She wasn't looking forward to this. This was going to hurt both of them.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"**I'LL KILL HIM!**"Rick bellowed after Kate shared what she knew. He was going to kill him for a lot of reasons. He was also going to give his daughter a piece of his mind when she woke up. Though it would be a small piece since it was looking like it hadn't been totally her idea. Still she hadn't said a word to him. She was only sixteen for, god's sake. It was rape on Earth. Even if it wasn't for Orions.

"Calm down, babe." He really needed to be calm before he did something equally stupid.

"Calm down! Calm down? That piece of trash raped my daughter." He was definitely going to kill him. Just as soon as he came out of surgery.

"Technically they had sex. He just made sure that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. It might not be exactly consensual but she didn't stop him. And he didn't hurt her." Kate closed her eyes tight. She was arguing with Rick not to kill him when that was exactly what she'd wanted to do just a moment ago.

"And you think this is funny. That him forcing himself on my daughter is somehow okay?" Now he was angry with Kate.

"Of course not. I'm not any happier about this than you are. What Micheal did was wrong. But not technically against the law, Orion law, anyway. …Alexis is going to be fine. She made him pay for what he did. Micheal's lucky to be alive." If Alexis hadn't killed him Kate was sure she would have. At least until now.

"Technically!? Technically. Just how long have these two been having sex behind my back?" Rick glared at Kate since he was still furious.

"I don't know. Maybe about as long as we have. More or less." Alexis and Micheal had started on Earth. She and Rick had only started here.

"That's different," Rick argued. He was the adult here. Alexis was his underage daughter.

"And me using my pheromones on you?" Kate countered.

"That's still different! I love you and don't care about how many pheromones you use on me," Rick contended. Kate smiled a little. Even in the heat of a fight he still loved her. She had never felt better.

"Can you two keep it down. I'd like to get some sleep over here," Alexis said with an annoyed tone in her voice.

"PUMPKIN!" Rick left Kate and hurried to Alexis. "How do you feel?"

"Fine. …Stupid. How bad did I hurt him?" She hadn't really wanted to kill him. She just wanted to make sure he paid for what he had done.

Doctor Heuer's timing, it turned out, was perfect. "You broke his nose pretty good. I'm guessing with your hand since it's bandaged. His, ... testicles are severely bruised and his lone kidney is also severely bruised. He'll be spending the next few days down here with us. He'll recover, but he isn't going to enjoy it.

"I presume he deserved it?" He had never seen Alexis angry. In fact if he was had to guess she would be the last person he would have selected.

"YES!" Rick answered.

"It's a good thing you haven't had any combat training or you might have actually killed him. How's the hand?" It looked like he had more than one patient.

"It hurts a little but not bad." Alexis held it with her good hand for a moment before returning to petting Dixie who was now lying next to her suddenly; she didn't remember her being up here. Though it did get her to start smiling. Dixie wasn't trying to get away from her any longer. It even earned Dixie a kiss to her head.

"Good, I think you've spent enough time in Medical already. No offense but I'm getting a little tired of seeing you down here." Everyone smiled at him for that. "You can go, you'll be fine. I have my own patient to look at. Now get out of here, all three of you. …Or four. And make sure you clean up after her. I don't want to be stepping in something." Doctor Heuer walked away to go check on Micheal.

"I promise," Alexis said. That was something she was going to have to solve before Dixie got into the habit of thinking she could poop and pee just anywhere. It was just that there wasn't anywhere else to go. The only outside they had was a shuttle ride away or simply a balcony that didn't have grass.

Alexis started to get up only to have her dad move to help her. "I can do it, Dad. I'm not an invalid."

"I'm your father. It's part of my duties so I'm helping. You'll just have to live with it." Rick helped her off the bed. Kate did her part by picking up Dixie and putting her on the floor followed by wrapping an arm around Alexis to help her walk on her sore foot.

"You too?" Alexis looked at Kate.

"Yes, now let's go before I change my mind and kill Micheal." Kate was helping her and that was the end of it.

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Rick was already in bed and Kate was just finishing stripping under his watchful eye. She got into bed and slid in nice and close. She felt his arms go around her and pull her into him.

"What do you think she's going to do? I've never seen her that angry before. I thought sure she might kill him." She was still worried about Alexis. What Micheal had done was going to leave a scar. A mental one, but still a scar.

"She can't kill him. I'm going to kill him." Rick was still furious. Kate grinned. "What are you smiling about?" He was sure Kate was going to try and stop him.

"Alexis wants to kill him, you want to kill him, I want to kill him. Even Howler, I think, wants to kill him. All I know is that Micheal's a dead man." Kate was pretty sure no one was going to really kill him, but that didn't mean he was going to enjoy living.

Kate felt him hug her and kiss her head. "Can we get off this topic now?" She was tired of wanting to kill someone. It was far too much negative energy.

"So what should we talk about?" Rick asked.

"How about we not talk and you make love to me. Or should I use my pheromones on you." Kate couldn't help but smile since pheromones were what got them all into this mess.

"Right after you tell me about this tattoo I have to get during the ceremony," Rick murmured as he kissed her neck.

Kate leaned back to look at him. She had yet to discuss with him all that entailed about them being mated to each other. "Who blabbed? I'll kill them." Suddenly she was back to wanting to kill someone.

"Tattoo?" Rick tried again.

"You'll love it, babe." Since he didn't have a choice. "It goes down your left arm. Surely you've seen a few already?" Orion men had piercings and tattoos all over them. "Or your face, though I prefer that you didn't get one there. I like your face just as it is. What you get is up to you. Just make it tasteful, please," Kate pleaded.

"I thought that was just a decoration like all the other junk they put on their bodies," Rick commented. That had Kate smiling. She hated all that stuff and now she was learning Rick did as well.

"So what's your tattoo?" He'd learned they both got one.

"You'll see." She was saving it for the ceremony. It was going to be a surprise. "We're going to be mated to each other for life." She couldn't wait for him to be her mate or her his. Coming here was turning out to be the best thing to ever have happened to her.

She loved him more than words could say but she was going to show him just how much during the ceremony.

"Now shut up and make love to me or I'll have to use my pheromones on you."


	18. Chapter 18

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 18_

As part of her job she needed to do this. She hated it but it really was required. She had Alexis's side of the story and now she needed Micheal's side.

Micheal defended himself. "She's lying. Males don't have pheromones. You know that." What he didn't understand was why he was strapped to the bed. His arms and even his legs were strapped down.

"Hm." Kate had been afraid of this. A she said, he said situation.

"And since when did Alexis become an Orion? She's a human." A pink, small-busted girl even if she had been a good fuck.

"Well, Alexis is an Orion now and this place needs her. She's why a lot of the equipment and other things we find around here work. You may have failed to have noticed that you underwent surgery to repair your nose. The doctor used the more modern and advanced system that we found here and was made operational thanks to Alexis," Kate informed him and suddenly Micheal started to get concerned.

Then Kate pulled out a printout of a scan from behind her back. "This is you, and this," Kate pointed at one of them so he could see it, "is one of your pheromone glands. I've only ever heard of males having these glands. You're the first I've ever met who actually had them. But you know, don't you? And you know what they can do. Especially to an alien girl that knew nothing about them."

Micheal swallowed hard. He'd been caught. After all this time he had been caught and it was because of this place and that alien girl.

"Alexis wanted to kill you. Her father wants to kill you. I want to kill you. _Howler_ wants to kill you. My problem as leader of this expedition is that I need everyone I can get my hands on. Our race needs to survive our encounter with the enemy. The Vree, as we now know them, thanks to Alexis. So I've decided to teach you a lesson. After your lesson I've ordered that you be returned to the operating room. The doctor is going to remove all of your pheromone glands. You're going to be a normal Orion male from here on out," Kate said coldly.

"NO! Please don't. I won't do it again. I promise." Now Micheal was well and truly scared.

"Oh, I know you won't. …BABE!" She called Rick into the room. She had a plan and she needed Rick to make sure it worked. "I'm sure you know Alexis's father." Kate smiled as Rick came up behind her.

Rick had agreed to this only after Kate had promised that his pheromone glands could and would be removed. However, seeing him he was thinking that maybe this wasn't enough. Breaking a few more of his bones came to mind.

"Babe?" He was delaying and Kate feared he was thinking about not doing this and doing something else instead. But she soon found his hands on her breasts as he started nibbling on her neck.

It was just enough for Kate to start emitting her pheromones. Having Rick touch her always got them going.

By the time his hands made it to her core and were stroking her through her pants she was horny and wanted him badly. Which also meant she was pumping out a vast amount of pheromones that had Micheal squirming in his bed because he had an erection and her pheromones were really getting to him.

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Rick and Kate left him aching with a massive erection followed by the doctor and nurse walking in a little later after her pheromones had dissipated. Kate was beyond horny. Rick always did this to her, not that she minded.

They had a plan for that. They had just made it to her room as Kate was about to lose her mind. "Strip, babe." She needed him and she needed him now. "Where are you going?" He couldn't leave her like this. She thought he loved her.

"To get the lube, of course," Rick said and didn't see her race for the bed and get on all fours. Though he did hear her squeal.

"Fuck my pussy first, babe, then you can fuck my ass," Kate told him.

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Alexis was feeling better even if she was limping and her arm was still in a sling. But first she needed to figure something out before she did anything else.

She opened the door and stepped inside to find two men and one woman in the room.

"Are you sure you should be here?" one of them asked since all three were concerned.

"I need to figure out what this machine did to me along with how and why. I don't know what Kate's priority is, but this place is mine." Alexis plopped her tablet on the edge of the console, opened it, and got started. This thing was going to give up its secrets and that was the end of it.

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Kate was feeling so much better and was sure Rick was feeling pretty good, too. Right now she was kissing his chest and wondering if he had another round in him when her communications tag signaled.

"You can ignore it," Rick murmured only to see her roll off him and pick it up.

"Yes?" It was her job and she had to.

"Ma'am, Alexis is down here. Should she really be down here?" He was ratting out Alexis for being in this room.

Kate let her head fall into one of the pillows and moaned into it before lifting back up. "Let me guess, she's in _that _room." They hadn't even given it a name yet.

"Yes, ma'am." He turned back around to look at Alexis who was totally immersed in what she was doing.

"I'll be right there." She felt the bed move and turned to see Rick's nice tight ass walking away from her. "Where do you think you're going?" Even if she did know the answer.

"I'm going with you, of course." She could try and stop him but she would fail.

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Alexis had her arm out of the sling so she could draw on her pad. Kate and her dad came into the room. "Hi, guys." Alexis went back to what she was doing.

"What are you doing down here? I thought the doctor told you to take it easy on that hand." Kate walked up to her and looked at her pad to see what she was doing.

"He did. But I have to figure this thing out. I want to know just what it did to me and why. I mean why am I an Orion and not something else. Why did it choose that?" There had to be other races it could have turned her into. Like the people that built this place, for example.

"Pumpkin?" Rick didn't want her overdoing it. He had long since learned that when it came to school and her studying for a test or doing research on something that she would be totally dedicated and focused on it. He had no idea where she got it from. It certainly wasn't him.

"I feel fine. I'm even starting to get used to being an Orion. And I like the really red hair. I think it makes me look older." She also loved having breasts now, and they weren't just little breasts, either. They were almost too big for her frame. She was guessing 32C or maybe even 32D. Since she apparently didn't need a bra she wasn't wearing one so she didn't really know how big they were. They were, though, just what she had wanted.

"Alexis?" Kate moaned since she didn't know what she was going to do with her. She even saw Dixie lying on the floor behind her. "You two," she pointed to 2 of the 3, "make sure she eats something and doesn't stay here too long. She's supposed to be resting."

"Yes, ma'am." They would do what they could.

"Let's go, babe, I'm starving. I've spent too much energy of late." Kate left Alexis behind but soon realized that Rick wasn't with her.

"Pumpkin?" Rick stood opposite from her.

"I'm fine, Dad, honest. My hand only hurts a little. Or is this because I hit Micheal? That jerk had it coming." She was still really angry with him.

Rick opened his mouth then snapped it shut. He was still very upset and extremely angry with Micheal, too, even after what he and Kate had done to him. It was only a fraction of what he had coming to him.

Rick sighed, knowing anything he said would be a waste of time. "Just don't stay here too long. This place is really big and they still haven't searched even half of it. This thing might not be the most important thing here."

"It is at the moment. At least for me. Kate has all of the consoles on the Control Deck working. So until they find something more important this is where I'll be. I'll be fine, I promise." He didn't need to stay and could go have fun with Kate. "What?" He was still looking at her only it was a different kind of look.

"I'm still trying to get used to seeing you being green with red hair." She didn't look anything like the daughter he had spent all these years watching grow up.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Alexis was learning to love her new look. "I was thinking of having my hair cut a little shorter. Maybe not even reach my shoulders. I haven't decided yet." It wasn't orange any longer and didn't need it to be this long since it was this red.

"Just don't over do it, pumpkin. Love you." Rick gave up and turned to leave.

"Love you, too, Dad." Alexis would try but she wanted to know what this machine did and why.

"Did you get anywhere with her?" Kate asked as Rick joined her. She was well aware that she had failed.

"As usual, no. When she sets her mind to do something nothing stops her. She wants to know all she can about that machine. To be honest I want to know why, too. Why did it chose Orion?" Rick was equally curious.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that. I just don't have any answers. She does appear to have adjusted pretty well." Kate had already learned that Alexis was happy to no longer be small busted. If that meant being green, so be it.

"There's something we need to talk about." As leader she needed to bring it up.

Rick was silent as they walked and listened to what she had to say. "Everyone here has a role. A reason to be here. The people on the island are doing the farming so we have food to eat and are building sheds to store tools in. Military, medical, and what have you. You're a writer but we don't need a writer. You haven't had any military training so Howler isn't going to accept you. So what do I do with you? …Besides love you, make love to you, and make you my mate soon. Got any ideas?" He needed to pull his weight. He was eating their food but not doing anything to earn it.

"I do know how to shoot a gun, just not one of yours. I've had a little training back on Earth. You're right that I've had no medical training or real combat training and I don't know anything about farming." Rick tried to rack his brain about just what he could do that was useful.

"Give me a team or add me to a team and search this place. Last I knew there was still a lot that hasn't searched. Maybe I'll get lucky and find the power station or something even more important like that big gun Howler wants to kill motherships with." It was all Rick could think of at the moment.

Kate made her decision and tapped her communication tag. "Howler, meet me on the Control Deck if you have a moment."

"On my way," Howler responded.

"Hope you like walking, babe." This place was enormous.

"I'll live. Hey, maybe I'll find one of the people that built this place. I have a lot of questions." Rick was dreaming but you never know.

"So do I, babe, so do I." Kate had a lot more than just a few if he did get that lucky.

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Rick soon found himself being added to a team so that that team could total three like the others. He had his communicator, a pad to use for when they found something, and was now walking toward a section of the city they had yet to even try to enter.

He was so excited he could barely contain himself.

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Kate had spent her day on the Control Deck yet again. Today everything had been mostly quiet. Nothing exciting had happened and apparently none of her teams had found anything worth telling her about.

Now she was on her way to her room, ready to shower, change clothes, and go to the cafeteria to eat something. She did wonder where Rick was but didn't want to bother him. He needed to concentrate now that he was working.

Kate entered what was now their room since Rick had moved everything he owned into the room. So far she had resisted doing any snooping. She trusted him.

The second she entered the bedroom she saw him lying flat on his back in the middle of their bed, fully clothed except for his socks. "What happened to you?" Kate walked over to the bed and looked down at him.

"I need a foot transplant. Make that a feet transplant, plural." Rick just continued to lay there.

Kate smiled and headed to the bathroom, stripping her clothes off on the way. "I warned you it was going to be a lot of walking. Find anything?" He hadn't contacted her about anything.

"Mostly just sleeping quarters. This place is meant to hold a whole lot of people. We even found another kitchen or cafeteria. It was nothing special so we didn't tell you. We made note of it and you can read about it later," Rick replied wearily. "What are you doing?" He was curious even if he didn't want to get up.

"Showering before dinner. Care to join me? Or are you too tired?" Kate teased since she hoped he wasn't that tired.

Rick's eyes snapped open. He looked at the ceiling and turned his head toward the bathroom but didn't see her. "Shower." He groaned as he rolled out of bed and stood up, ignoring the pain in his feet. He was betting he had a blister on one of his toes that was bothering him a little.

He quickly stripped, dropped everything on the bathroom floor, and stepped in behind her in the shower.

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Kate was grinning while she ate across from Rick. She had enjoyed being shoved up against the shower wall and wrapping her legs around him while he fucked her.

"Ma'am, we just got this report from the last team to come in." Kate was handed a pad and watched the young woman walk away.

Kate read it and concentrated on it, trying to understand what she is reading. "They find something important?" Rick hadn't found anything so he was a little jealous.

"If they're right, they might have just found the central, um, poop cleaner. Is that how you say it?" She wasn't sure the word would translate.

"Sewage treatment plant. Interesting. I was wondering where it all went. If they found that there must be a potable water pump station somewhere. Take water from the ocean, desalinate it, then pump it for us to use. Nice! Now if we could just find the power station." Rick would really like to find that.

"Yes," Kate agreed easily and kept reading. "Looks like it's located in the central core and not 1 of the satellites. Concentrate on directly below us as deep as you have to tomorrow. If this is in the middle maybe everything else is."

"So what has been found so far?" Rick queried since that might help him.

"The Control Room manages much of this city including power generation and how much power we're using. There's a gym filled with exercise equipment. A large theater meant for either movies or live shows. Alexis is still working on getting her discs to work with that system. A lot of housing that comes in various sizes. So far 3 different medical areas even though we're only using 2 of them at the moment. This cafeteria with kitchen and dining area. So far just 4 laboratories just like the one Alexis found herself trapped in. And a lot of closets that are empty. Places to clean our clothes and now this place," Kate replied.

"If this is a city and if it was an Earth city, there should be parks filled with green plants. If this is a floating city where are the fishing boats and submarines? They have to be able to repair what they have so where are those places? What about making clothes to wear, sheets for the beds and any number of other things?

"There are 6 satellites off of the central core. Maybe each one specializes in something. Have you tried adjusting for that?" Rick inquired; she shook her head.

"We'll get started on that. For now finish the central core area. We can go back to the outer areas after that. New orders will be out in the morning," Kate told him now even though he and the team he was in would get their orders tomorrow.

"How's your tattoo choice coming?" Kate was still working on hers but she thought she was making progress.

"You sure we can't just exchange rings?" Rick had never cared for tattoos. Big or small.

"Not part of Orion culture and you are mating with an Orion and living on Orion soil." He didn't have a choice as far as Kate was concerned.

"I've got an idea for one. Unfortunately I think I'm going to need Alexis's help with it." He just knew his daughter was going to tease him about it.

"Why her help?" Didn't she have enough to do already?

"I was thinking of an Earth Polynesian protection tattoo. I'm pretty sure I need her help in getting the design right. That or send a shuttle to Earth and do the research there."

Kate shook her head. Anyone going to or anywhere near Earth was out.

"That's what I thought," Rick said with a shrug.

The sound of nails tapping on the floor had both of them turning to see Dixie coming toward them at a fast walk with her tongue hanging out; Alexis wasn't that far behind though she was walking slower.

"Hi, pumpkin!" Rick was always happy to see her.

"I think I found something. A reason why I'm an Orion now." Alexis sat down with her pad. "I'm not sure you're going to like it," Alexis said.

Kate sighed. Just what she needed, another problem.


	19. Chapter 19

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 19_

"I'm sure I'm not going to like this, but let's hear it." Kate just knew this was bad.

That had Alexis putting her tablet on the table since she had something to show them. "This is the control panel for the unit. We all know the power button by now." She pointed to it and so far Kate was following easily enough. "Now these 3 panels here talk about preparing the pod. I found a way to add a DNA sample, however if you don't have a DNA sample all you need to do is slide your finger across this panel which will take a tiny slice of skin and use it as the DNA sample."

Kate groaned. "I don't get it." Rick wasn't following. So a panel took DNA. So what?

"I think one of the Orions I was with ran a finger over this panel at one point and it took a sample and saved it," Alexis began.

"Then you fall into the pod and it turns you into an Orion. Meaning one of them provided the DNA it needed. …Accident?" Kate looked at Alexis.

"I still haven't figured out what's all on that control panel. So unless someone knows a lot more than I do and isn't talking… Yeah, accident," Alexis agreed.

"Then if it can take a DNA sample from one of us and do this, what if it had a DNA sample of, say Rick? Would that turn you back into a human?" Kate thought she had a way to change her back.

Alexis had already anticipated this question. "What if I like being an Orion?" She wasn't interested in changing back to a human.

"Pumpkin!" Rick couldn't believe this.

"I like being an Orion. I mean look at me, what do you see?" Alexis asked.

"My daughter who's green with really red hair." That's what Rick saw.

Alexis hung her head. "Really, Dad?" Why did he have to be like this? "I like the way I look and I'm not changing again. Besides, don't you remember what the doctor said?" She was a little put out with her dad. This was her life and she was living it.

Rick opened his mouth to argue with her. "He said that my system might not survive changing back or do you not remember that part? Or are you that dense?" Alexis got up quickly and sent her chair flying because she was angry again and she didn't want to be.

"You explain it to him. I'm out of here. …Come on, Dixie," Alexis called. Dixie was up and following her newest bestest buddy. "At least someone listens to me," Alexis muttered as she stormed out with her pad and her dog.

"What did I say?" Rick didn't get it.

"Seriously, Rick? What did you really see and if you say that crap again I'm going to hurt you," Kate threatened. That had Rick keeping his mouth shut.

"What do you see when you look at me?" Kate asked and pointed her finger at him as a warning.

He wanted to say the woman he loved but he was pretty sure she would actually hurt him. "A beautiful woman." Hopefully she wouldn't hurt him for that.

Kate tried to explain how Alexis felt. "Every woman wants to be beautiful, babe. Having a man tell her that she's beautiful makes her feel beautiful. Alexis sees herself as being beautiful and you want to take that away from her so she's angry and upset."

"She was beautiful before," Rick argued.

"When she looks in the mirror she sees more beauty now and she wants to keep that beauty. …Or are you racist and have something against Orions?" Kate let that slip out and now she was scared to death. If he said yes she was going to run and never talk to him again.

"Of course not! But what does she have now that she didn't…" Rick shut up. "Are they really that important?"

"You like mine. How many orgasms have you given me just by massaging my breasts? Why did you do that? Because you like women with big chests?" Kate queried.

Rick already knew he was a breast man. Kate's breasts were the perfect size and he couldn't keep his hands or lips off of them. He loved them; he just didn't really understand that women wanted them too. Including his daughter.

"It isn't just breasts, babe." Kate tried to get him to understand. "Alexis sees herself differently now. She's growing up and becoming a woman. She is who she is because of you. You need to let her be herself, human or Orion."

"That's what I'm afraid of. She's my baby. My little girl. I remember every scratch. Every cry for Daddy. What if I don't want her to grow up?" Rick said mournfully. Kate simply stared at him. "I don't have a choice do I?" She was getting older and older right before his eyes. Rick watched Kate shake her head.

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "Oh, Rick. One day she's going to find someone who isn't Micheal that really cares for her and that she loves. What are you going to do then?"

"Shoot him," Rick answered quickly and hung his head. He didn't want that day to come.

Kate played her final card. "If Dr. Heuer is correct and you force her to change back you might be condemning her to death. How will you feel then?"

Rick moaned. He already knew losing her would kill him. Even Kate wasn't going to save him. At his wits' end he asked the ultimate question. "Women! Why do you have to be so complicated?"

"Because our men are even more complicated. We can either love them or shoot them. Which do you want me to do?" Kate demanded.

Falling back on humor he replied, "Tough choice." Rick dropped his gaze. "Fine, you two win."

"Good, now go apologize to your daughter and be happy that _she__'__s_ happy." Kate wanted him to do it now, not later.

"I'm going, I'm going." Rick got up so he could hunt down his daughter and apologize.

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Kate was about ready to turn in. So far not much had happened today if she didn't count Rick being an ass to his daughter.

"I thought I'd find you here." Alexis with Dixie at her side came up the stairs.

"Hi, Alexis." She waited for her to reach her. "Have you talked to your father?" She was going to bust his ass if he hadn't apologized.

"Yeah, Dad found me and apologized for being an ass. We're good. I've been angry at him before but he's my dad so I think we'll always be good now matter how far up his ass he shoves his head." Alexi smiled as Kate smiled and relaxed.

"You've found me, so what's on your mind?" What did she need help with?

"I've been thinking about Dixie pooping and peeing anywhere she chooses. She's just going to keep doing it and it's going to get harder and harder to break her of it as she gets older. But I think I have an idea." Alexis had a plan and needed Kate's approval.

"I'm listening." Kate was all ears if it meant her city wasn't being turned into a mess with land mines all over the place. Not that Alexis's wasn't good at picking up after her since she was. But what if she didn't see it?

"I had some help because I asked them. We found a space that's next to a nice sized balcony. I was thinking that with some help I could turn the balcony into an all grass area for Dixie and train her to only go there," Alexis said.

Kate was loving it already. "You need someone to bring dirt, sod, and whatever from one of the land masses. I'll arrange it." She would do it before going to bed even.

"There's one more thing." Alexis scrunched up her face since this was a big one, she thought. "The closest room is kind of big. Too big for one person. It even has its own balcony though it's a little small."

Kate didn't even blink. "It's yours. Go gather up your stuff and move in when you want to."

"You're sure? It's really big." She was thinking maybe Kate should see it first before she agreed so easily.

"Alexis… From what we're learning so far and we've only searched maybe half of this place, we're betting that this place can hold a million people, roughly. We only have a fraction of that. I don't know where this room is, but if you're happy with its location, then I'm good with that. So go move in. Enjoy it. Maybe I can talk Rick into finding another one for us." Kate didn't see a problem no matter how big it was.

"Thanks!" Alexis was all smiles and Kate loved seeing her smile. It looked good on her. Green face, green eyes, bright red hair, reddish lips and white teeth.

"You cut your hair!" Kate only just now noticed and reached out to touch the new short style.

Alexis ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah. I like it. I think it makes me look older. I'm still getting used to seeing green and red when I look in the mirror. The first time I did it I spun around to see who was behind me and how she'd gotten into my bathroom. Scared the crap out of me," Alexis chuckled; it was just a memory now.

"You're a brave and smart young woman. I don't know of anyone who could take having a complete race change. For us it was a week of pain and anguish not knowing what was happening. For you, you were human one minute and Orion the next. It had to be a shock." Kate was still amazed with her.

"Yeah, that was a bit of a shock." They were both interrupted by someone manning the communication console.

"Ma'am, one of the search teams is checking in. He's demanding to talk to you."

"Sounds like Dad." Alexis was betting it was him. It sounded like something he would do.

"This is Beckett, what have you found?" Kate was at work so she used her work voice.

"About time. We've found a pair of big double doors that we can't open. They're locked. Is Alexis still up and available?" Rick sounded a little pissed at first and then normal.

"I'm up, Dad, where are you?" It was the very first locked door anyone had found that she knew of. For that reason alone she was interested.

"Where are we?" Rick asked the man next to him and they all heard him tell him.

"On my way." Alexis started to turn and looked at Kate. "Are you coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it." A locked door was a first for her as well. "Have Howler meet us there if he has the time and have him bring a team. Fully armed." A locked door could have anything on the other side.

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"Jeez this is a ways down here!" Alexis was getting tired of stairs but was thankful that it was all downhill. Amazingly Dixie was right with her all the way down.

It turned out they were both last. Howler and a 6 man team armed to the teeth were already there with Rick and the other members of that 3 person team.

"What have we got?" Kate wasn't in the mood to be sexy and call Rick his new nickname of _babe._

"This thing." Rick pointed at a pair of doors that were actually quite large.

"We believe it is large inside, ma'am," one of Rick's team added. "At least 4 or 5 levels tall. We can't find a way to be right above it. We've also tried to find another way in but didn't find anything. It might be huge inside."

Kate turned to look at Alexis only to find her already at a panel next to the door with her pad in hand and Dixie sitting right next to her. Kate smiled. She truly was impressed with this young woman. Kate walked over to her. "What do you think?" It was early and she knew it but maybe they would actually catch a break.

"Definitely a lock. This panel's different. I don't know how but it feels older. Not like the consoles in the control room. This one's different." Alexis kept looking it over and using her pad.

Kate had been afraid she would say something like that.

"This is going to take some time." Alexis presently had nothing.

"Yeah." Kate had been afraid she would say that, too. "Howler, I want an armed team down here all the time until that door opens. With our luck it'll suddenly open on its own." Kate left him and moved to Rick.

"You and the team your on spread out, babe, and keep looking. If this is down here I want to know what else is as well. Take a break, drink something and get something to eat, then get back down here." Kate turned away from him and looked at the door.

It was a huge door. Easily 15 to 18 feet tall and just as wide. If she was right it was in 2 sections so she was betting each slid to one side and the other.

She tapped her communicator. "This is Beckett. I want 2 more search teams down here. Have them coordinate with Rick and the team he's on. I want this area thoroughly searched." She was betting that what was behind a locked door was important. Maybe there was something else just as important around here.

"Go get something to eat and drink, babe. You and the others are going to be down here all night." Kate walked back to Alexis.

Rick was tired and just wanted to go to bed. But she was right. A locked door was new and he knew it. "You heard her, let's go." If he was going to be up all night he wanted food and something to drink.

No one else left including Howler and Kate. Howler had his team split up and cover the door in a crisscross pattern. If something bad suddenly came out of that door it was going to find itself caught in a crossfire.

Kate went over to stand near Alexis and watch her without trying to interfere with what she was doing. Mostly she saw her using her pad and drawing things. She willed Alexis to go faster.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Alexis was still at it and Kate couldn't stand there and do nothing any longer so she went back up to the Control Room and left her and Howler and his team behind her.

Hours later she was still on her feet and they were starting to hurt as was her back. Then suddenly her communicator tab erupted. Kate heard Rick's voice which sounded both tired and excited. "Kate! We found another locked door! This one is a lot smaller, though."

She tapped it. "Where are you?" She didn't care where he was or what it took to get there. She listened to one of his team tell him and her at the same time.

"Howler, I need another armed team to meet me there. Tell Alexis to stay right where she is." She had started there so she might as well stay there.

Kate jogged to the stairs and even as tired as she was she went down them quickly until she saw Rick and his team. She had barely reached him when another fully armed and combat ready team arrived without Howler.

"Show me." Rick walked her to it and Kate looked it over. She had seen the other one and this one looked just like it. She decided to risk it and tapped her communicator. "Alexis, this one looks to me just like the one you're working on. If you can get that one open you can get this one open."

"That's nice but don't hold your breath. This thing is a pain. It looks and acts a lot like… Dad, are you there?" She thought he would understand better.

Rick spoke up quickly. "I'm here, pumpkin."

"You remember that movie where the president's taken down to a command and control bunker? I think it was called SALT. This thing looks a lot like that. I think it wants not just a code but also a key card. I wouldn't be surprised if it wants a retinal scan or even a handprint. This thing is a real pain." Alexis wasn't getting anywhere or she felt like she wasn't.

"A key card. Where the hell are we going to get a key card?" They were screwed.

"Show them one of your credit cards then go back and search each and every room you can find. You're looking for something different this time." Not that finding a credit card in this colossal space was going to be easy.

That had Kate looking at Rick. "In my wallet in our room." He had no reason to walk around with his wallet and his credit cards were effectively useless here.

"Go get it. If there's more than 1 leave the others with Alexis and bring 1 back here. …Move it, babe." He was still standing there. With that Rick hurried away.

Kate tapped her communicator. "Control, have all search teams that are presently out come to this position. We need to start a search all over again and try and find something." Kate hoped it was easier than what it sounded like.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

If felt like forever but Rick finally came back, huffing and puffing and bent over. Out of breath, he handed her the 1 credit card he still had on him.

"This thing?" Kate looked it over. It wasn't very big and it was really flat. It said something on it in big letters, then something else along with a row of numbers. The other side had a strip of black across the top. "This?" Kate asked him again and watched him nod, still bent over sucking in air.

They were in trouble. Something this small could be anywhere. Then something hit her. "Why have we not found any clothes in this place? This place is totally empty." Kate looked at Rick who was still sucking in air.

Kate tapped her communicator again. "Alexis, do we need to find one of these little things?" Surely she was mistaken.

"I think so. Take a close look at yours." Alexis waited. "Do you see that slot on the right side? A slot that would fit sliding 1 side of the card you're likely holding down it?" Alexis asked her and Kate decided to actually do just that. "I'm betting you just tried it. Like the magnetic strip that's on one side so that it's inside the unit. That's that black strip on one side."

Kate looked it over again but it was taken from her by Rick who quickly slid it and then did it again and again.

"It's not working," Kate told her since nothing happened.

"We need the code first then slide the card. There could be a billion combinations. It'll take months if not years to do them 1 by 1. My finger will fall off before I get the right combination." Alexis had already tried the card her dad had left her with and got nothing.

Kate slumped just as the other search teams showed up, all looking like they could use some sleep.

"Here, we're looking for something that looks like this." She handed Rick's card to the new team to study. "I can't tell you where they are or where to find them. I want your team to begin the search from the start. Go through all the rooms you went through when you first started searching. Get going." She took the card back and watched them leave slowly. She felt for them but she wanted through these doors.

"Here, go back to where you've already searched today and look for something like this." She watched that team leave and turned to Rick. "Take yours and keeping looking. If it isn't in a room we have already searched it might be in a room that we haven't searched. Look everywhere. Something this small could be anywhere."

"Yeah, that's the problem." Rick took the card back and handed it off to a member of the team he was on. He didn't need to know what he was looking for. But he didn't understand something. "Why do we even need this card? This system is really old school. Even Earth uses biometric locks now instead of these things." This place was far and away too modern for this ancient technology.

"Maybe we'll find out once we're inside." It was the best Kate could think of. "Get moving, babe. I want to know what's inside these doors." Rick was still standing there.


	20. Chapter 20

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 20_

"Hold still, Dad." He was fidgeting and it was making it tough for Alexis to tie his tie for him.

"I can't help it." He was just moments from being married again. Only in Orion life it was called Mating. Kate was going to be his mate for life and she was going to be his.

He had learned that they just didn't get tattoos that were impossible to remove but they had to cut themselves and let their blood mingle with the other. It was typically a hand and the blood mingled on the outside of the body so nothing really got into the blood stream.

It wasn't rings that could just be taken off and thrown away. They really made it impossible to leave the other person. You were mated for life.

They didn't have everything they needed so Rick was wearing the lone suit that he had packed away in one of the bags he and Alexis had brought with them. Luckily he'd included shoes, a dress shirt, and a tie. A little Earth was going to be a part of this ceremony.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

When Kate had accepted this job she'd had just a few minutes to pack up everything she had at the complex that held the Portal on her world. She really had no idea why she was toting this dress around with her. It wasn't like she was going to wear it for anything. Yet she'd bought it and had taken it everywhere with her. Now she was going to get to wear it. She'd actually found a mate to live out her life with.

They weren't past the locked doors, though Alexis was still working on it while someone else was doing what he could at the other locked door.

The ceremony itself was taking place just in front of the Portal. Save for being outside, it was the largest open space they had found thus far.

Kate had been secreted away up onto the balcony that was located between the Control Deck and the conference room. She would come through the doors, then down the wide stairs, and over to be right in front of the Portal. The rest of the people associated with this ceremony would be waiting there for them.

Rick was to walk up the stairs to one side and through that section of the crowd and join her.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Kate was smiling and felt tears starting as she began her walk. She was all alone since none of her family were there. Her family, if they still lived, were on Orion which had been conquered by the enemy. She had tried not to think about what had happened to her parents. As sick as it sounded she hoped they had taken their lives instead of having an egg planted inside them.

She noticed that the place was packed. Literally everyone that had come through the Portal was there. She and Rick were going to be the first mating since the Orions came here.

Kate walked down the stairs, up to the Portal, and stood next to the two men that would be applying her chosen tattoo. It was going to be placed on the inside of her lower right arm. She had thought long and hard about what she wanted it to look like.

Then she heard footsteps which were different. All the shoes most of them wore had rubber soles and made almost no noise. The shoes she heard were different. They were hard soled. She herself was presently barefoot. Then she saw him. He looked different. He was wearing something she had never seen before. It was unlike anything she'd seen him dressed in. It didn't matter; in her eyes he was incredibly handsome. Right next to him was his only family, Alexis, who was also wearing something new.

Alexis had found that a lot of what she had brought didn't fit any longer since her breasts were now much larger and she didn't have much that could account for the increased size.

Kate was still smiling wide and wiped away a tear that had escaped. Rick was directly across from her, standing next to two women that would be applying his tattoo that he had chosen.

As part of the ritual Kate was to go first. "I thought sure I was never going to find someone that could so thoroughly touch my heart. Then you came through the Portal. An alien from a different planet. You were then and still are the most handsome male I had ever seen in my life. I couldn't help but find you attractive.

"I willingly bind my life to yours. I want to be your mate for the rest of my life. You are my life. My alien mate." Kate smiled wide since she had never dreamed of this ever. Let alone falling in love with an alien.

Kate stretched her arm out to the two men and held it there.

Rick was supposed to go next. "You are the most beautiful and passionate woman I have ever met. You can sometimes be the most stubborn and exasperating woman I have ever met but I wouldn't have it any other way. You are totally dedicated to living life on your terms.

"I was totally captivated by you the moment I saw you, and then you ran away from me." Kate grinned and dipped her head. "I can't think of anyone else I could possibly want to be my mate. I want to be your mate until the day death takes one of us. I pray that will only happen far into the future. We have so much love and life to share together. No one can ever separate us no matter the distance."

Rick took off his jacket, handed it to Alexis, then untied his tie and opened his shirt. He bared his shoulder and upper arm for the women to apply the tattoo he had chosen.

Since Kate was the leader here she nodded and they began to apply the tattoos to each of them.

Rick switched between watching what his two were doing and what Kate's two were doing. Neither had any idea what the other had chosen.

Rick watched as what looked like a wide heart was being drawn and then colored in using two shades of purple, two shades of green, and two shades of blue. Then he saw that it wasn't just a heart but they were spotting colors here and there on the outside of the heart. It was made up of dark and light lines and spots of colors all over.

Kate was watching his and hers. She knew what hers was so she was mostly watching what his was. It was going on his upper left arm just at the shoulder. Unlike hers it was all black or dark gray in color. She watched as what looked like eyes were made with very dramatic and artistic eyebrows. Then the nose was started as was the mouth. The tips of the eyebrows were all black; the middle was skin color with a touch of gray. The eyes were black with white and gray around them. The nose was large with the eyebrows coming down to meet and join the nose.

The mouth was wide and upturned. The ends were black with the middle being skin color with a touch of gray. Then a double chin was drawn that was part black, part gray, and part untouched skin color. It was clearly a face, but why had he chosen that?

Kate watched as the words in English were drawn over the heart; _you are loved_ all in lower case letters were added quickly.

Rick saw hers and loved it. He also knew she was going to ask him about his.

Then Howler came up as leader of the Military. He pulled out a wicked looking knife and grabbed Kate's right hand. "Do you accept and willingly give your mate-to-be your blood?"

"I do!" It was going to hurt but she didn't care. Then hissed when Howler sliced open her hand.

Howler quickly grabbed Rick's right hand. "Do you accept and willingly give your mate-to-be your blood?"

"I do." Rick bit down then showed his teeth as he felt the pain of having his hand sliced open.

Howler then joined their hands. Kate placed her fingers between his and closed them hard to his hand as Rick did the same.

"According to the laws of our society you are mated to each other for life." Howler raised up his arms with the knife still in his hand. "I am told that it is an Earth custom that you two kiss in full view of everyone."

Rick smiled wide as did Kate. And with their hands still holding each other's they leaned in and kissed like they always did. Only then did everyone erupt in clapping, hooting, and whistling loudly.

From there they all went down to the cafeteria to enjoy what had been prepared for everyone.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"What is that, babe?" Kate couldn't wait any longer and stopped Rick from stuffing his face with food.

Rick had been waiting for her to ask about it. "It's the mask of a family ancestor. It's supposed to drive evil away and protect the wearer. It's now my job to protect my mate from evil and see to it that no harm comes to her," he explained.

Kate smiled. "That's sweet. Weird but sweet." She could live with that.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Kate, Rick, Howler and one entire squad of fully armed and armored men were down at the first locked door.

"You're sure this will work?" Kate asked Alexis who was at the panel with her ever present tablet as well as something new that was plugged into it.

"I saw this in a movie once. We didn't find a card to swipe but thanks to this gadget and my pad I've got the code. Now I just need this thing to mimic what would be on the card and the doors should open. Then repeat it at the other door." Alexis had no idea if this was going to really work, but without that card it was all she had.

"Cross your fingers." Alexis started tapping in the ten digit code that her tablet provided.

Kate looked at her mate and saw him holding up both hands in front of him. He actually had his fingers crossed. She rolled her eyes at it being Rick and looked at Alexis.

Alexis put her light wand at the top, slid it down the slot, and pressed something on her pad when it reached the bottom. When nothing happened she handed her pad to Kate. Alexis held a finger over the spot on her pad and then swiped her light wand again while she pressed the button.

The doors immediately started to slide open. "YES!" Alexis was happy; she had circumvented not having the card they needed to get the doors open.

The military squad readied their weapons and pointed them at the door. Anything that looked threatening was going to get blasted in a cross fire. Except no one or anything came out.

Kate handed Alexis back her pad and looked inside followed by Howler, Alexis, then Rick.

What they all saw was a room that had glass walls. What was beyond that glass was something none of them had ever seen before.

Everyone but the heavily armed men stepped inside and just looked. What they saw were disks mounted to flying buttresses on three sides. The disk itself was slightly green in color and they saw what looked like little bolts of lightning coming from the ceiling striking the disk and then going through to the floor.

From there they saw lights pulsating across the floor from each one to a central location. There they saw a cone that had been cut off with another just like it coming from the ceiling in the room's dead center.

Between each of these there was a constant glow that actually hurt their eyes if they looked at it too long. Then occasionally a big bolt of lightning erupted from the edge of the cone at the bottom and struck the edge of the cone above.

There were six of the disks around the edge of the room but just the one in the middle of the room. "Anyone seen anything like it?" Kate was looking everywhere since staring at the center was too hard.

"No."

"No."

"No, but I think we just found the power station. Though I have no idea what it's doing." Alexis was sure she had never seen anything like it in her life or in any movie she'd ever seen.

"Do we go in?" Howler queried even if he didn't want to.

"And get struck by lightning? Not me." Alexis was staying right where she was. "I'm betting this is the power core that provides all of the power, but what feeds those things on the side? It looks like they feed the thing in the middle. I feel like we're missing something. You don't just create power from thin air. And I've had enough, my eyes hurt." Alexis left with the others right behind her. Once back out it was easy to close the door again.

"What do you think you're missing?" Kate was willing to bite. She was only too willing to agree that power didn't just happen. Something had to be feeding it.

"Well in Star Trek they used these crystals so maybe those green disks are the crystals. You send any kind of energy that strikes them and multiplies the energy that gets sent to that central thing. However, the Romulans used an artificial black hole, I think, and that didn't look like a black hole to me. It looked more like a small sun than anything. I don't think they ever said what they used in Star Wars. …Dad?" Maybe he remembered.

"I have no idea. What did they use for that Ring World? Or that Dyson sphere?" Rick remembered those.

"Those were real suns, if I remember correctly. So maybe this is an artificial sun. But how does that make power?" Alexis had no idea. "This thing is so far above anything I know it makes me look stupid. Better pray it never needs maintenance." She was never going to be able to fix it.

"It does explain the locked door, though." Rick could see why.

"Speaking of locked door." Kate looked at Alexis.

"One more door to go." Alexis smiled and started walking with literally everyone behind her.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

"You think this works the same way?" Rick asked Alexis as she set up to open this door the same way she did the last.

"Hopefully. I've been thinking about these locks on the way down to this one now that the first one is open," Alexis replied and thought she had a theory on why these were different from everything else in this place.

No one said a thing and just waited patiently. "They didn't build this place overnight. It had to have taken them years to build all of this. The power core was built first, then when they had it up and running they didn't need an outside power source to keep building.

"It and maybe what's behind this door were built using one technology and the rest of this place was built with another. Think this is 20th century technology and the control room's 21st century technology," Alexis postulated.

Unfortunately only Rick was following her. "What did she say?" Kate looked at Rick since she didn't get any of that.

Alexis tried again to explain. "Long ago you fought with sticks and stones. Now you have more modern weapons. I'm thinking that they started here and years later as they built this place their technology advanced so they incorporated the new technology into what they were building where they could."

"Ohhh." Kate and Howler got it now. That actually made sense to them.

"Hold this for me." Alexis gave Kate her pad. "Everyone ready?" Alexis was ready to make her first try. She watched as Rick went to one side of the door while Howler and the guards aimed their weapons on the door.

"Here we go." Alexis slid her wand down the slot and used her other hand to press a panel on her pad. The door instantly slid open. Other than that nothing happened.

"I'm first this time." Howler stopped everyone and raised his weapon. He should have been the first one through at the big door. It was just that that door was a lot bigger than this one. This one was a man-sized door.

Howler cautiously stepped inside and the place began to light up as he moved. "WOW!" His men were right behind them and all of them spread out but couldn't help but be amazed at what they were seeing.

"Clear," he called out and heard each of his team do the same. He went back to the door. "It's clear and you're not going to believe this." The last place had been amazing. This place was almost more so.

Kate went first, then Alexis, followed by Rick. "WOW!" WOW!" "WOW!" All three let their mouths fall open.

In the very center of the room was a round pedestal with nothing on top of it. Around it were a number of recognizable control consoles even if they did look different, older. The ceiling was really tall. Like eighteen feet tall. Outside of that ring was a large empty space all the way around.

On the walls around the room were chairs and screens all the way around.

"Now this is interesting." Alexis was amazed. "Like Dad said, this explains the locked door."

Kate walked to the middle while everyone else spread out. In the very center she could see that it had panels and screens about waist high all the way around it. In the middle she saw there was the top of a sphere that took up the entire ring. There was another one just like it on the ceiling.

Howler and the troops did their job as they searched the entire place before setting down and ending up in the middle. Alexis and Rick went around the outer wall looking at everything.

Kate was walking all the way around until she saw a panel that looked really familiar. "Power." She knew that word by now so she pressed it and bright lights lit up the center. The ring lit up, the sphere in the center lit up, and lights meant to light up the space in that area came on.

"Found something." Kate had no idea what, but she had found something. That got Howler, Alexis, and Rick coming to her while the guards stayed on the outside and kept looking everywhere.

Alexis lifted up her pad and looked at the space in front of her. It only took a moment. "This is a scanning station. I don't think it does the same thing as the one on the Control Deck. I mean I don't think this one sees as far." What she wanted to do was press a panel to see what it did, but she didn't.

She did move to her right, though. "Communications. Just like the one on the Control Deck upstairs." Alexis left it and moved to the next one. She played with her lower lip. "I think it talks about power but I don't think it's a power panel. I think it has control over the power station. A lot more than the console on the Control Deck."

Alexis was enjoying this and moved to the next one where Kate was standing and Rick joined them. Alexis wrote on her pad and tried to translate. "Ooo, I think Howler's going to be interested in this one." Alexis was betting he would love it.

"Why?" Kate quickly asked and waved her hand to ignore that question. "Military?" It was the only reason why he would be interested.

"Weapons," Alexis said. "WOW!" Kate was impressed just as Howler joined them after hearing the words _military_ and _weapons._ "If I read this right, there are 112,103 of them."

That had Rick whistling. "Missiles!" Howler was smiling wide.

"I think so, they just don't call them that. They call them…" Alexis wrote on her pad. "They call them… I think it translates as drones."

"Like in remote controlled missiles?" Rick was really interested now.

"Maybe, but there are a lot of them." Alexis pressed a panel. "It looks like they're stored all over the very edge of the city. Way out on the six satellites."

"So why is this down here but the Control Deck way up there?" That didn't make any sense to Kate.

Alexis shrugged. "Changed their minds, maybe. If I'm right this area's older and that area's newer. Maybe you need both to make this place work." Alexis shrugged again. She was only guessing.

Howler was in love and Alexis moved to the last station and looked it over. "Kate, Dad." She'd found something else.

"This section talks about flight." Alexis pointed. "Engine power." She pointed again. "Speed." Alexis looked at both of them. "I think this city can fly through space!" Alexis looked at all of them in shock.


	21. Chapter 21

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 21_

Alexis and Dixie had spent the last week far down in the new or really old Control Room. She was pretty sure Howler was actually giddy or at least beside himself. He had his weapon even if none of them understood how it worked yet.

Search teams had yet to be able to actually find these _drones _as they were being called now. So none of them knew just what they looked like let alone what they could do or how to get them to work.

Right now Alexis was in her room after taking Dixie out to her new grassy area for her to do her business. Alexis had stayed out there until she did. She needed to learn this was where she was supposed to do all that. "You were a good girl." Alexis petted her and kissed her head then went in search of a treat to give her. "Sit! Good girl." Alexis gave her her treat after instantly sitting for her.

Dixie wasn't stupid; she could smell the treats and had worked out that if she did what she was being told to do she got to eat it. Now she was nosing Alexis for the next treat.

Then there was a knock at the door. Dixie ran for it, barking her head off. Her job was to protect her best buddy and she was going to do just that.

"Dixie…sit!" She watched her sit but she still only had eyes for the door. "KATE?" Maybe she shouldn't be surprised but she was. "Come on in." Alexis stepped aside which allowed DIxie to get what she wanted: to be petted by Kate. She was a member of her little pack even if she did constantly come and go.

"Hi, Dixie." Kate petted her since she had gotten used to seeing her and she was a nice…dog. An animal from Earth.

"I was about to go down to…" Alexis saw the look on her face. "What has Dad done now?" He was at fault, she was sure of it. However, Kate ignored the question and looked around.

"You weren't kidding. This space is huge." She had given her the room without actually looking at it since she didn't care. "What do you do with all this space?" Now that she was here she started looking around the place.

She found a huge living area, a small area to eat in, and two big bedrooms that each had their own bathroom. It even had its own tiny balcony that looked out onto the water.

"I need to talk Rick into moving. We just need to find another one of these." Kate was loving it.

"There's at least one in each satellite. It's kind of a long ways from the Control Deck," Alexis mentioned as she watched her continue to ignore her as she sat down in the living room.

Alexis joined her and waited for her to start talking while Dixie stuffed her nose into Kate until she got petted. "What's he done now?"

"He… I know you told me about your mother but has there not been anyone else? You're his only child?" Kate needed answers first.

"It's just me and Dad," Alexis nodded. "Since Mom was killed when I was just a baby it's only been just the two of us. Gina, that's his publisher, she edits the books he writes before the company she works for publishes them. She's been the only woman who has constantly been in his life.

"She asked him to marry her one time. Dad told me that she had asked him after his second Derek Storm book made it onto the New York Times Best Seller List again. Except, I think, for his very first book all of his books have made the list.

"He hadn't said yes and he hadn't said no. He needed to think about it. The second he told me I blew up on him. I shouldn't have but I did at the time. Today I think it's my fault that he didn't marry her. I didn't like Gina back then and don't like her that much even today.

"I'm ashamed to say that I told him if he married Gina I would run away from home and go live on the beach. Even today all Gina did was harass Dad for his chapters. She threatened him and did all kinds of things to get them.

"I think they went out on dates a few times, but I hated her so Dad didn't marry her. It wasn't until I was older that I started coming up with my own reasons why she wanted to marry Dad. Most involved the money he made selling his books. Dad was rich and selling his books made a lot of money.

"What's going on?" Alexis wondered why her dad hadn't told her all this already. After all, they were married now.

"So you're his only child?" Kate ignored her question and asked one of her own.

"Yep, Dad was an only child, too. Grams, that's his mother, had a one night stand with someone and ended up pregnant. She ultimately married two guys and divorced both of them but Dad was her only child. I know he spent his life wondering who his dad was. He dreamed up all kinds of guys that were his father. Most were kind of out there and not very likely.

"It wasn't until I was fifteen, almost sixteen years old, that I understood just what having a family meant to him. It was why he even was considering marrying Gina since he didn't love her. He wanted to give me a mother and maybe have more children. He gave up that dream after I rejected Gina. …Why?" It was time for an answer.

"That's what I thought. He wants to have children." Kate had given up that idea and now here was her new mate talking about having children. For years she had given up on having children so talking about her getting pregnant was something seriously important.

"Okay." Alexis could see that. There was just one problem with what her dad wanted. "Humans and Orions aren't compatible." Unless something had changed that she didn't know about. Maybe medical with their new equipment had learned something.

"We're not. Not unless we're both Orion or human," Kate agreed.

"Well that kind of…" Alexis stopped as something occurred to her. "He's not?" Alexis didn't see her shake or nod her head but what she was thinking had her up and running for her bedroom to find her communication tag.

Alexis ignored Dixie who had raced after her. "DAD! Where are you?" She waited a few seconds but got nothing. "ANSWER ME! DON'T MAKE ME HAVE HOWLER HUNT YOU DOWN AND SHOOT YOU!" Howler was happy with her and would probably do her a favor if she asked him.

"Kate went hunting for you didn't she?" Rick was positive she'd done it.

"**DAD!**"This was his last chance.

"I'm in our room." He wasn't looking forward to this. His daughter was going to remove his ass, he just knew it.

"Don't move or I'll hurt you something terrible," Alexis threatened. She kept her communicator and ran to the front door. "Don't leave this room." She wanted to be able to find Kate again after she had yelled at her dad.

"No, Dixie. You stay and keep Kate company." She managed to close the door while keeping Dixie inside and then started running.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Alexis pounded on the door. "OPEN UP, DAD!" She kept pounding until the door finally opened.

"What do you think your doing?" Alexis stormed past him into their room. "What are you thinking?" Her dad had lost his mind.

Rick closed the door. He was going to hate this. "You're Orion now." He didn't see what the big deal was.

"By accident. This is different, Dad. Totally different." Not to mention stupid. "I'm almost surprised that you haven't tried to do it behind her back without even talking to her." She knew her dad well.

"Kate put an armed guard on it." Rick had actually gone down there to look at what it would take. Could he do it alone or did he need someone?

"Good for her." One more reason to like Kate. She ignored the hurt look on his face. "I know you, you're just stupid enough to have tried it on your own without even talking to her. Have you talked to her?"

"Kate obviously ran to you." It was why she was there in the first place.

"I mean talk to her, not just tell her what you want to do. She's your wife. Even I know that you make decisions together instead of just doing what you want. You're married now." Alexis was so ready to shake some sense into him.

"I wanted to start a family and this was the only way." Technically he could ask Kate to change into being a human but for him to change into an Orion was a better idea.

"Do you even know if Kate wants children? What if she doesn't want to be pregnant for nine months or however long it is for Orions? You're a guy and you have no idea what it means to be pregnant. There's a baby growing inside you. That does something to you.

"You have sex and get to walk away and wait for the baby to show up. You haven't even talked to her have you?" Alexis was so angry at him. "You haven't have you? JEEZ, DAD!" She spun in place and raised her hands high in the air, totally exasperated with him.

Alexis tapped her communication tag. "Kate, get down here and bring Dixie with you." These two needed to talk.

Alexis laid down some rules. "Okay, before I finally decide to shoot you or disown you, you're going to talk to Kate. You're going to explain why and what you're thinking. You're going to tell her why this is so important to you."

"I can do that." It sounded to him like his daughter was finally on his side.

"She's your wife and she's the one that is going to be getting pregnant. If she says no that's the end of it. Got it?" Alexis jabbed her finger into his chest.

Rick didn't answer her and kind of shuffled his feet instead. "DAD! Are you listening to me?" She knew he wasn't or didn't want to.

Alexis walked toward the door since she had an idea to make sure they talked before her dad did something stupid. "Talk to her or I'll never talk to you again." Alexis left and ran into Kate and Dixie along the way.

"Drill him, Kate. Find out just what my dad's thinking. If you say no I'll back you up 100%. Come on, Dixie, we have a job to do." Alexis commanded Dixie to follow and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Kate really wanted her help with her father.

"Down to that device. I'm going to remove a part that's required to make it work. That way he can't use it until both of you convince me this is what you want," Alexis said over her shoulder.

That had Kate grinning. Alexis truly was amazing. Still she was different from having an actual baby.

Kate went inside their room and right away saw Rick standing there with his head on his chest. She couldn't remember seeing him like this before. Alexis had obviously told him off.

Kate moved past him and sat down. It was up to him to start. She was angry but was willing to listen.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Alexis was with Dixie down in the new – or really old – Control Room in the bottom of the city working. Howler wanted his new big gun operational in case the enemy came their way. Alexis, though, was more interested in just how this city was supposed to fly through space. After all she had a balcony right off of her room. That same door would mean she would be stepping out into space if she did. So just how did that work?

She was busy working on various words and just what they meant when Kate showed up. "Hi! You don't look too pissed." Maybe that was a good thing.

Kate ignored that for now. She was in leader mode. "What are you working on?" Howler was all over her to get Alexis to make the weapon system operational.

"How this city can travel in FTL. I really don't see how that would be possible." It didn't make sense to her.

"Howler wants those drones operational." It was as close as Kate was going to come to ordering her what to work on.

"I know." Alexis put her pad down. "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course." Like she actually needed to ask.

"Say the enemy shows up like they did on Earth or your planet. They show up with 2 or 3 motherships at first right?" Alexis thought she had this part right.

"So far, yes." Where was she going with this?

"They find a planet and send more ships so they can overwhelm it and make it theirs." Alexis tried to think this through as she went along and Kate just nodded. So far Alexis had it right as far as they knew.

Alexis shared her thoughts. "So say a single mothership finds us and we shoot it. What comes next? I would think that they would send a lot of ships. We fought back so we need to be eliminated."

"Maybe. All the more reason to have weapons," Kate replied.

"Except if we act like a ship instead of a city stuck on a planet, we could move. That would give us an advantage. A way to escape if we had to, even if I don't know where to yet." Alexis thought being able to escape was more important.

"Perhaps." This was why she had Howler.

"I know it shows a lot of drones, even if I don't know how they work or even make them shoot something. But we only have just so many of them. We run out and we sit here waiting to be killed. …Or worse." Being turned into an incubation device sounded worse to her. "I haven't found anything yet on how to make more and if I did where do we build them?"

"Somewhere we haven't searched yet, maybe." Kate heard her own words. "Okay, I get it. Keep doing what you're doing and I'll try and keep Howler off your back. I'll see if I can get a team on the long range scanner to try and find somewhere for us to go. If this thing can actually fly. That and keep using the Portal to find something. There can't be just the 3 Portals. Going anywhere you would want almost instantly is a big advantage. That can't have just started and ended it." It made no sense to her. If she'd been in charge she would have hundreds of them all over the place.

It maybe really wasn't her place but she wanted to know. Besides Kate had come to her for help. "What did Dad say?"

"We can talk later. For now he's going to stay away from that machine," Kate said.

"Good, not that going there is going to help him. I found a way to turn off the power. And I took out parts it needs to power up and hid them all over the city." Alexis was proud of herself.

Kate smiled and shook her head. It was good to have Alexis on her side. "Figure out how to get us out of here if we have to. I'll handle Howler." Alexis had a point and maybe she could get him to see it.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Alexis watched Dixie poop in the grass. "GOOD GIRL!" Alexis was sure positive reinforcement was the way to go so she lavished praise on her and kissed her head. "That's my girl! Are you hungry?" That had Dixie barking since she was learning certain words and that was one of her favorites.

"Well since I'm starving, I thought so. Let's go." Alexis opened the door to go inside and Dixie ran past her, heading straight for the cafeteria. "HEY!" But she was gone at a run and was already halfway there. Until she reached a door she couldn't open and was forced to wait for her best buddy. Then she was off again and ran all the way into the cafeteria. Once there she got in line and waited for her best buddy to select what she was going to get to eat.

Alexis was long since out of puppy food; now Dixie was eating only what the cooks were making just for her as Alexis had asked. Dixie was presently swallowing whole what was on her little plate until it was all gone, acting like she was never going to be fed again.

Then Alexis heard Dixie burp loudly thanks to all of the air that went down with her food. "Well excuse you." Alexis smiled and petted her. It was positive negative reinforcement, technically, but she didn't care.

"Alexis?" She heard a voice she didn't ever want to hear again, not ever.

"I thought Kate made it clear that you're not supposed to talk to me." She was all set to show him that she still hated him for what he had done.

"I just wanted to apologize," Micheal told her.

"And get back into my pants which isn't going to happen without your pheromone glands." Alexis had been told what Kate had ordered to be done. She felt a little sorry for him but glad that he couldn't do to someone else what he had done to her.

"DIXIE!" Alexis showed her teeth and growled. Since her best buddy was growling so did she. "Speak," Alexis commanded softly so maybe Micheal didn't hear her. But Dixie heard her loud and clear and barked loudly.

"BITE HIM!" Alexis pointed at Micheal and then said, "Speak," really softly and listened to Dixie bark. She smiled widely as she watched Micheal quickly scurry away.

"Good girl!" Alexis petted her and briefly thought about giving her something from her plate but she really didn't want to start down that road so she didn't.

"May I ask what that animal is?" An Orion female that Alexis thought she'd seen before was suddenly standing at her table and Dixie hadn't done anything to alert her.

"This is Dixie, she's a dog, a canine, specifically, from Earth. She's a Collie. She's actually very friendly." Despite what she'd just had her do to Micheal. "You can pet her. The more often she sees you the more she'll like you." Alexis held Dixie still while she came around and hesitantly petted her.

"She's a good girl," Alexis assured her.

"I hear that this place can fly." That was what had gotten her over there in the first place. How anything this big could fly was amazing.

"I think so. I still have a lot of research to do to prove it. …Are you interested? I can talk to Kate. It might be nice to have some help." Alexis was still doing it alone.

Then she shook her head. "I have an assignment. I was just curious. Thank you. …Bye Dixie." She waved and turned to walk away.

"Wait! What's your name?" Alexis asked her.

"Nalon. Thank you again." She left and went back to her boyfriend and told him all she had learned.

"Nalon." Alexis tapped her communication tag. "Kate, have you got a minute?"

"I'm in the conference room going over reports. You can come help me if you want," Kate teased since she knew that wasn't going to happen.

"On my way," Alexis replied and tapped it again to close it. "Come on, Dixie, let's go see Kate."

Kate's eyes shot open at that response. "Really?" She would've asked her long ago if it was that easy.


	22. Chapter 22

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 22_

Alexis was back at it a week later. Only this time she was over at the weapons station to try and pacify Howler and get his weapons figured out.

"Alexis, are you sure I'm helping?" Nalon wasn't sure what she was doing was all that helpful.

"Are you kidding? I've been doing this for what feels like months now and I still don't understand a word these people used. Well save for the word 'power.' That one I recognize. I've copied everything from my pad onto yours. You just keep making tags in Orion and placing them where they belong. Take care and make sure you're right. If we ever have to fly this city through space I would hate to be turning right when we meant left." Alexis smiled at her little joke.

"Okay, if you say so." Nalon was glad to be helping. She still didn't understand just why she was here. She thought that what she'd been doing she was doing just fine. Then out of the blue Kate called her in and had her reassigned.

There were 2 things about this job that she really liked. First, Alexis was a better boss. She was so much more kind. She wasn't trying to compete with her about anything, especially her boyfriend. Second was that she found Dixie was sitting next to her and constantly nudging her to throw her stuffed toy. Her favorite thing seemed to be chasing her stuffed toy after you threw it and she went scrambling and sliding on the floor to chase it down and bring it right back so you could throw it again.

The only sad part was that she had learned that Dixie was the only dog. If she didn't have pups she might be the very last dog.

Nalon had a question. "Alexis?"

"Hm?" Alexis was mostly paying attention to what she was doing and that Dixie was bugging her constantly to play with her.

"If Dixie is the only dog here, how is she ever going to have…children?" She didn't know the word and the translator used that word.

"Puppies. And no, she'll never have puppies unless we get another dog. Which is highly unlikely, pretty much impossible. Last we knew Earth was surrounded by all those Vree ships." Granted Kate hadn't authorized another quick look-see, nor had she asked for one.

Suddenly Alexis sat back. "Grams." She couldn't believe that until now she hadn't thought of her. She was either dead, on the run, or had an egg inside her. "Oh, Grams." If Earth was still surrounded by Vree ships there was no way Kate was going to allow a shuttle to go to Earth just to find one person who probably couldn't be found.

Still, she might authorize another quick look, though. Maybe that would be enough. She tapped her communication tag. "Kate, can we do another quick look at Earth, please? Just a quick peek? They don't even have to get very far from the portal if that will work," Alexis asked.

"I'll bring it up with Howler. Since Earth is in Vree hands that makes it a military matter, but I'll ask him. How is it coming with those weapons?" She might need something to give him to get just this one quick peek.

"Well the number of them hasn't changed any. I still think each one can be programmed to go somewhere. But I haven't figured out how to do that yet." Dixie chose that moment to bow way down on her front legs and bark at Nalon to get her to throw the toy.

"I presume someone's having fun." Kate had heard that.

"Yeah, Nalon's keeping her occupied at the moment. She'll give up eventually, and thanks." Alexis tapped it to end it.

Alexis got back to work and tried not to think what was happening to Grams at that moment.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Kate had gotten Howler to authorize a quick peek at Earth since it was still the only address that still generated something. Since there were a billion combinations and there might only be a handful of Portals it wasn't all that surprising.

This trip had Kate, Rick, Alexis, and Howler and everyone else located on the Control Deck watching the scanner and listening to the communications station.

"This is Ranger Two, we are reaching the opposite end of the rings from the Portal. Starting our scan." If there was something close they were going to have to run for it.

What they saw was sent through the communications link and then transferred to the scanner for them all to see. "ONE!" Howler didn't believe it. "Why just 1? Ranger Two make sure they aren't hiding somewhere in the system." It felt like a trap to him.

"Scanning." They all waited a second. "Confirmed, just the 1 mothership. No sign of fighters being used at this time." It was quiet, eerily quiet.

Alexis reached out to the scanner and pressed a panel. It brought up the planet and the mothership over that.

"Atlantic Ocean?" Rick recognized where it was instantly. Its location just didn't make any sense. "Maybe we won and drove them away," Rick mused even if it was impossible.

Alexis had an idea. "Ranger Two what communications are coming from the planet. Normally there should be thousands if not more."

"I thought they shot down all our satellites." Rick was sure they wouldn't hear a thing.

"True, but what about all those ham radios that are all over? Maybe they put a satellite up in a low orbit." Alexis was reaching but suddenly there was only 1.

"Negative, the planet is silent," came back and Rick and Alexis suddenly wanted to sit down before they fell down.

"Come back Ranger Two," Howler ordered and turned away. "One." It didn't make sense to him.

"Earth is still basically where it was last time. We sent a shuttle the long way around to pick up the crew of Ranger One and gained Rick and Alexis on that trip," Kate said since she saw an opportunity.

Alexis sounded off immediately. "I'll go."

"Not a chance." Kate shot that down even quicker. "And before you say anything, this place is where it is at now because of you. We can't afford to lose you. We might still be walking around and having not found anything." Kate was thinking that wasn't the truth but they certainly wouldn't be where they were without her. She was brilliant, truly brilliant.

"She's right. You're not going if we even do send a shuttle," Howler agreed.

"I'll go." Rick wasn't sure he wanted to do this, but who else was there?

"Babe?" Kate hated this idea almost as much.

"There's just the 1 and no fighters moving. I know about Earth more than whoever you send," Rick argued.

"Before we send anyone we need to know what they're going to do once they get there. I mean just what are we going there to do?" Howler didn't have a problem with the mission. But just what was the mission?

"Grams, more Collies, information. In that order." Alexis offered more options. "What did they do to Earth and the people? Maybe we killed enough fighters to drive them away. Find someone more easy. Or maybe they did find someone more easy and called the others away."

"Go there first and come back here to finish," Howler said. It was possible, maybe, if not very probable.

"Or they've already won enough and planted enough eggs so they moved on. This one remained behind just to watch." Kate played devil's advocate.

"Yeah." Alexis could see that as well. "We can't hurt their ships in orbit, so perhaps."

"Why are we going? We need to know why and is it worth it?" Howler still hadn't heard anything that would convince him to send someone. "Plus they need to be fast. Get in and get out. Not land and search some city." He had conditions to anything they did.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

Kate wrapped her arms around him and kissed Rick soundly like it was going to be her last one. "Be careful." Her heart would shatter if he got himself killed or worse, if he had an egg planted inside him.

"I intend to." Rick had no wish to die, either.

"Remember, Dad, get in and get out. If you can't get your hands on them instantly you leave. Dixie will just have to be the last Collie. Good luck finding Grams." Alexis hoped for the best and was ready for the worst. She would deem the mission a success as long as her dad came back safely.

Howler stepped up and poked him in the chest. "I agreed to this because my 2 men are going to get information about your planet. Everything else is just extra. You put my men at risk and Kate's going to have to love a guy with one leg. Do you understand me?" In his eyes this was a military mission that just happened to be doing something else at the same time.

"I got it." Rick didn't doubt for a second that he wouldn't shoot his leg off if he got either of his men killed or worse.

"See that you do." Howler poked him in the chest again. Then he turned to his men. "Get in and get out. No heroics. We don't have the people to lose or the shuttles." They stood no chance of making more of them.

\M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/ - * \- \M/

The 2 Orions who were piloting had made a change in their approach. A quick scan had shown fighters over the target location of New York City. They were now on their secondary location to gather information and try and stay out of danger.

Rick got up and looked at where they were going. "Where are we?" All he saw was water and then some land that really didn't have any trees.

"There were fighters over our original target. We are heading to our secondary target to gather information and maybe get more dogs," Tamas said.

"But, but…" Rick felt like shit suddenly. His mother was in New York City and this was definitely not New York City. "SHIT! So where are we then?" He had no control so this meant he was just along for the ride now.

"We're approaching a place called Scotland. Alexis gave us a target location to possibly get more dogs. From there we continue to a place called London." Neither of them had ever heard of either place but they were following their orders.

"Fine." Rick was going to argue to go back if only 1 mothership was all there was, so this was just a delay. Besides if he got a lot of dogs maybe his daughter would stop being angry with him for trying to change into an Orion so he and Kate could start a family. Though he hadn't really given up on that either. He just needed to come up with a new argument.

Rick watched as they left the water behind and were now over land. "We're approaching the target location. Get ready."

He went to the back where the ramp was, pulling out his weapon that he had secreted away; he checked it before putting it back. He was sure Howler would have taken it from him if he'd known about it. So would have Kate and probably Alexis as well.

After the ramp came down Rick saw a farm. A working farm so he was a little lost at first. Still he trusted his daughter so they headed for the farm.

"Not inside." Rick stopped them. "We need to go around to the back."

That immediately produced results as they heard dogs barking at them. They saw fences all over and kennels that had overhangs. "Collies." They had found the right place.

Behind them were a few adult dogs that looked perfect. On the opposite side were a number of kennels of good size. In three of them they saw smaller dogs.

Rick walked down them and stopped at the last 2. "Mya, Gino, and this one is Hannah." The first 2 were mostly black and white with a little brown in the muzzle. Hannah looked a lot like Dixie, meaning they both looked like Lassie.

"We'll get these 2 and you can get that 1 and then we run." They had orders to get in and get out. So these 3 dogs were going to have to do.

Hannah was older so she really didn't want to go; the other 2 were much younger so they got picked up easily.

They were soon back at the shuttle and Rick was working on keeping all of the dogs inside while the ramp closed. "What about the adult dogs?" There were more dogs they could get.

"Orders, we get in and get out. London's next."

Rick sighed. "Three better be enough for you pumpkin. What about dog food and shots?" Surely they weren't here just for these 3 and information.

"London," Tamas repeated.

"Okay." Rick got busy using the rope they had brought with them. Alexis had warned him that the second the ramp opened at their next stop the dogs would run out and they would lose them. The trick was figuring out to what to tie them to. He settled on the chairs while they flew.

"Target is coming up," Rick was warned. He moved to the ramp again and checked his weapon before putting it away.

Rick had missed seeing them traveling just barely above the river Thames. Then from there they made a hard left, went into the city, and passed over abandoned cars before setting down.

The ramp came down and Rick saw it. "Bow Wow?" He wasn't sure about the name but it was clearly a dog store and pointed as the 2 men pulled out their weapons and go inside, 1 at a time.

"Clear."

The second, "Clear," allowed Rick to enter. He saw dog toys, dog food, dog costumes. Problem was the food looked limited.

"Puppy." He pulled a few off the shelf and handed them off and didn't watch him leave for the shuttle. "Puppy." He emptied the next shelf then emptied the next shelf that didn't say puppy on it.

Tamas and Willard went back and emptied the shelves while Rick went to another part of the shop and looked for other things like flea stuff, collars, and leashes.

Willard came running back inside. "We need to go now. There are people on the road." They had orders to avoid the locals at all cost. That had Rick just grabbing and running and soon saw the people and just made it inside as the back ramp closed up and then they were up in the air.

Alexis had given them their next stop and could only hope for the best.

The dogs tried to get to each of them and were all over Rick as he stood behind the chairs and watched. "The EYE!" He recognized that easily enough. Then hey landed close to it. The ramp came down and they spread out a little since they saw no one. "Where is everyone?" Rick didn't get it. London was a big city so there should be people around here somewhere.

He saw a paper stand and grabbed several, taking a quick peek at what it said. It was all about aliens in orbit. He didn't see either of them for a while and was beginning to wonder about them when they came running around the edge of a building.

"We're leaving!" Tamas yelled. Rick didn't know why but he ran for the shuttle.

He was watching as the ramp started to come up when he saw why he was running. There were people, a lot of people, and all of them had weapons in their hands. _"Hurry!"_ They were all running flat out and they were just sitting there while they got closer and closer.

Soon Rick felt they were in the air so he dropped what he had and went forward. "Now what?" Just then he heard something strike the outside.

"Last stop." Rick kept his eyes peeled as they flew over the river and headed down, turning as it turned. Then suddenly they landed almost right next to the river.

The back ramp opened and Rick had no trouble seeing where they needed to go. "Barrier Care Animal Clinic." He hurried inside.

"Alexis said drugs and anything else we found," Willard said.

Right up front Rick saw dog food. "Take all this. Drugs will be in the back." This time Rick took out his weapon and headed for a door he hoped would lead to the back of the place.

They found no one and Rick started emptying shelves, not paying attention to what was on them. "Here." He handed Tamas a plastic bag full of stuff. Then he opened the small refrigerator and started emptying it.

Rick went outside and saw Willard coming back for more food. When he came back the ramp went up and they took off.

Rick sat on the floor trying to keep the dogs happy since they constantly did their best to get away from the two Orions. Only Rick was allowed to get close.

Finally Rick looked up and saw nothing but blackness. "We're in space?" It was that or they were still at the planet but on the dark side.

"We are going the long way around. Just like we got here," Tamas said.

It wasn't until they reached the rings on the far side of the Portal that they checked in and did a scan of Earth. "SHIT! Control this is Ranger Two. We're almost home. No injuries to report. However, there are now suddenly 4 motherships in orbit."

"Four!? Where did they come from? SHIT!" Rick hated that news. Howler would never approve of going back to look for his mother with 4 in orbit.

Rick heard Kate's voice. "Understood, where are you?"

"Minutes away from the Portal. Almost home." They tried to use the rings around the planet to try and hide themselves from the motherships.

Rick was on the floor with the dogs and suddenly the ramp began to open. The first person he saw was Alexis with Dixie right behind her.

Suddenly Rick found himself with his hands full as all the dogs checked out each other.

"Puppies!" Alexis was beyond happy. "And puppy and dog food and toys, collars and leashes. Were you able to find their shots?" Rick pointed to the bags.

Rick told her the names on the kennel. "One of these is Mya, Gino, and this one is Hannah."

"Hannah!" Alexis got down and tried to pet her only to see her back away.

"They've been doing that with everyone but me," Rick said.

"New people, maybe." Alexis was a little hurt but she would get over it. "Mya sounds female, Gino is male, and Hannah definitely sounds female. Three females and 1 male. I hope that's enough." Unless they could go back but with more than 1 mothership in orbit she doubted it.

"Where's the information?" Kate was next since that was why they went. Rick gestured toward the newspapers he'd picked up while Tamas and Willard held out pads that they had used.

"I didn't see you use those." Where had they gotten them and what had they done with them?

Kate took them and handed them off. She came over to Rick, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. "You came back." She was all smiles.

"Piece of cake." It hadn't been that simple but he hadn't needed to use his weapon.

"Cake?" Kate didn't understand. Then she felt something and pulled his weapon out that he had hidden. "And just what is this?" She glared at him.

"Protection," Rick said, raising his chin as she intensified her glare.

"I'm keeping this," Kate informed him then raised up to kiss him again. "I'm really glad that you're back."


	23. Chapter 23

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 23_

Kate had everyone in the conference room a few days later after she and Howler had had a chance to go over everything that had been brought back.

Alexis had found that her life had just gotten a lot more complicated. Since she had Dixie she'd volunteered to watch after the three new dogs and teach them to poop and pee on the grass out on the patio. Over the last few days that had been more hit and miss so far. The two black and white dogs seemed to be making the transition a lot better. Plus Dixie had found some new friends and Alexis was learning that having a big space with four dogs was a good thing.

Alexis showed up last and was immediately questioned and teased. "Where's your shadow?" Kate smiled when she asked.

"Probably destroying my space while I'm here. One stuffed animal has already paid the price." She located her seat and sat down.

Kate summarized what they'd learned. "Okay, after a review of everything we've learned that all of a landmass called Africa has been devastated. As have places called South America and Central America. Large sections of a country called Russia have also been devastated. Only sections of an area called Europe haven't been attacked.

"A place called United States has been damaged, however it would appear that most of their people have remained untouched."

"YES!" Rick pumped his arm. Maybe if the motherships left they could risk a return trip to find his mother.

"Don't get too excited. While motherships have a lot of people they can't infect everyone at once. Besides, if they did they would reduce the number of people on the planet to infect," Howler cautioned.

"But it's good right?" Rick wanted to keep his hope and bright future.

"When they're ready they'll concentrate on those sections next. How many people were on your planet?" That might help him estimate what was going to come next and when.

"Just over 6 billion," Alexis answered.

"Seriously?" Howler was shocked. How did they even begin to feed themselves with that many people? "Okay." He needed to think about that.

Kate gave him a minute. "We believe that at this point they have at least a third of the people on your planet and are working toward half. We have a couple of theories as to why motherships left and why they came back."

Howler took over. "One is that they found another planet and were called away. They may have returned because that planet was small with a small population. Second is that they underestimated how big of a fight your planet could put up so they called in some help."

"So Earth stands a chance?" Rick brightened.

Howler shook his head. "Without outside help from a civilization more advanced than either of us they stand no chance at all. We estimate that they control close to 100 planets including our home world. They have enough population and access to enough raw materials to just keep building motherships, fighters, and ships to move fighters down to a planet.

"Your population, like ours, will grow slowly while theirs will grow quickly. That and they hold all of the advantages. Their technology is greater and they control large amounts of space." Howler shook his head again. Rick sat back in his chair, his body slumping. They were defeated.

"And we can't do anything?" They had this big advanced city and they were just sitting here.

"As far as we understand the shuttles are unarmed so sending them is fruitless. Even if we did find a way to fly the city there we only have just so many weapons and no way to make more. And how do we stop them from damaging the city? What if they hit a central part like say the power station. We would blow up in a huge fireball. Then they have hundreds of thousands while we came here with a total of 3,234 people, all from the Portal complex. Only a few hundred are trained fighters; the rest are not." Howler began shaking his head once more.

"I'm forced to agree. Unless something major changes we can't help Earth or our own home planet. We may someday be all that is left of the Orion race." Kate felt that hit her heart yet again. They had escaped and they might some day be all that was left.

"So long as they stay and we can't fight them, we can't even go save more humans." Rick was beginning to think he may someday be the last human alive.

Kate heard that just as easily. "We can keep watch from time to time. Maybe if we get lucky we can pick up a few people, but we have only just so many shuttles and can't afford to lose any of them. If we had fighters to support them perhaps, but for now, nothing."

Kate knew they had the space to house thousands but they didn't have the food to support even half that many. Their farms were small and they were barely feeding themselves as it was.

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Kate was snuggled in close but Rick wasn't doing anything. "What's wrong?"

"I…I never realized just how hard it is to reach your planet, your home dying. I don't know how you did it." Rick was learning just how strong Kate really was.

"I didn't watch my planet die like you are. We were attacked and ordered through the Portal and we never heard a thing after that. We don't actually know what happened but we know all the same. There were more motherships at our planet than there have ever been at yours." Kate rubbed her hand over his chest.

"What's worse is that we know it's happened to others. This time we all get to watch. I want to help, babe, I do. There are just too few of us with limited military capability. We may all be on the run for the rest of our lives." Kate just didn't know what else to do.

"Beckett, this is the Control Deck. We need you up here. You and Howler." Kate moaned and left the comfort of Rick's body and tapped her communicator tag. "On my way." She rolled over and swung her legs over the side but didn't make it any farther. "There are times when I hate this job." Then she felt Rick's hands on her shoulders; he began rubbing her shoulders. She closed her eyes and let him keep working. He then offered her some consolation and something in the future. "I'll make love to you when we get back."

Kate reached back to cup his cheek. "You're a good mate. Let's go find out what's so important." Kate naturally invited him to come along with her.

Of course she found Howler already there. His mate must be an amazing woman. To be able to put up with him and then at any second find him gone from their bed.

"What have we got?" Kate saw them all at the long distance scanner.

"Trouble," Howler stated and pointed at bunch of triangles that overlapped each other. "It's a mothership."

That in of itself was bad. Then Patrick who was manning the station spoke up. "It's in FTL and it's headed right for us."

"Oh, shit!" This was not what they needed. "Any chance this is because of our trips to Earth? Have they found a way to trace where our shuttles go?" Had she made a mistake in sending them because she wanted to help Alexis and her mate?

"Not likely, ma'am." The enemy only used what they found and kept and reproduced. They didn't invent anything.

"So why come here? Is our power output too much?" Were they sending out signals that they could listen to our read on their sensors?

"If we're right they only build motherships so simple scout missions would be done using motherships," Howler said.

"So our little planet is just next in line. Great!" Kate hung her head. She hated to do this but… "Have Alexis come up here. It's time we find out if our drones are operational and if we actually can fly this city to somewhere else. Also alert the teams on the land mass. They may need to be evacuated in a hurry." Kate sighed. "How long do we have?" Were any of them going to get any sleep at all or did they have to start running now if they could?

"Just under 2 days if they maintain this speed and course," Howler responded.

"Two days. That better be enough time." They were in big trouble if it wasn't. Kate issued orders. "Okay, assuming we need to leave, if we actually can, I want a team working on just where we can go and if we can reach it."

The sound of dogs, plural, barking announced that Alexis was close. "This better be good, we were all sound asleep." Not just her but all of the dogs as well.

"I'm afraid it is. We have a mothership headed right for us." Kate pointed at the long distance scanner and they all watched as Alexis looked for herself. "We have just under 2 days."

Alexis began pressing panels and confirmed that it was just the one.

Kate then asked the 2 big questions. "How are you coming on the weapons system and getting this place to fly through space if we ultimately have to?"

"Nalon hasn't even finished putting translations on the flight system. As for flying I think we can. But what I haven't yet figured out is how we keep all the air inside so we don't all die in the cold of space." Alexis stared at the monster headed right for them. "As for Howler's weapons system, we haven't even started putting translations on that system and I still haven't figured out how to program the drones. Or fire them or what damage they do or what the range is or–" Kate interrupted her.

"What do you need? It's yours." She would give her anything she needed.

"Time, which we don't have. Barring that I need something to keep me and Nalon awake and I'm going to need Howler or 1 or 2 of his men. If you're thinking of attacking them when they get here, I need to teach them how to use the system once I figure it out.

"There's 1 more thing. If we're going to fly and that's if it doesn't kill us all, have you thought about where we're going to go?" Alexis looked around at everyone.

"We're going to have a team working on doing just that as fast as I can get them up here. They aren't going to be getting any sleep, either. I'm sorry but you need to get started. Nalon will be there shortly to help you. Howler…?" It was his choice who joined her.

"I'll send Wells and Marco down to you. I'll have all the teams I can ready when they get here. We may have to fight if they manage to land here," Howler told her.

"Can I have my weapon back now?" Rick asked, looking at Kate who had taken it from him. If they got boarded he wasn't going down without a fight.

"No! Let's get started. We have 2 days." Kate broke them up and sent everyone on their way.

"Kate?" Rick really wanted his weapon.

"You can have it back if it looks like they're going to get here and send fighters or people down here and not before. Now go help Alexis so we don't all die." Kate gave him a quick kiss and pushed him away to get him moving.

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Alexis had all of the dogs with her since she didn't think she had the time to take them all back to her room.

"A mothership?" Nalon showed up and looked a little scared.

Alexis tried to calm her fears. "Just the 1 and in about 2 days."

"There's never just 1. There will be more right behind that 1. …What do you want me to do?" Nalon was going to help even if she was scared.

"Finish applying the translation tags to the flight system. Once you do that you can start work on the weapon systems while I try and figure out how to fly this thing. Oh, and Howler is sending 2 men down here to man the weapons system. So while you're applying translations tags you and I will also be training them on it," Alexis explained.

"We have 4 now? What are their names?" Nalon saw 3 new dogs.

"Mya, Gino, and Hannah. At least I think that one is Mya. She and Gino look a lot alike." Alexis was still trying to get used to which was which.

"Hi!" Nalon smiled wide and leaned way down so she could pet one of them, not knowing which was which. "You and 4 dogs in one room." If Alexis's room was as big as hers and her boyfriend's where did she keep them?

"I've got a pretty big room. He or she seems to like you." Alexis was a little amazed. So far the 3 hadn't shown much interest in Orions, male or female. That had included herself at first.

"He's cute." Nalon petted him and even got in a kiss before starting her work.

The 2 men for the weapons system showed up an hour later. "Baby!" Nalon hadn't been expecting him down here. She left what she was doing so she could hug him and give him a quick kiss.

"Wells and Marco reporting as ordered. We're told you're going to teach us how to use this thing." Wells, who was Nalon's boyfriend said to Alexis. The men watched as all but Dixie backed away.

"Right after Nalon finishes putting translation tags on the flight system. So you can ether sit back or you can watch and help her. Once she's done she's going to switch to this station," Alexis explained and was smiling as both of them moved to watch or help Nalon.

Alexis got to work on the weapons system so that Nalon and the guys could attach translation tags when she was done.

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Rick was trying to help his daughter even if he didn't understand what he was doing. He was finding out just how smart Alexis really was and he felt like he wasn't doing anything.

"I'm starving!" Rick announced.

"Good. Go to the cafeteria and bring us all something back to eat and drink. I think we're all going to be living down here for 2 days. Oh, and go to my room and bring back some doggie poop picker-upper bags and something to absorb the pee," Alexis said.

"And something to clean the air," Nalon added as she began to second guess asking Alexis if her and her boyfriend could have one of the dogs.

"Food, drink, and Febreze. How about candles instead?" Rick asked and saw the look his daughter gave him. "I'm going." At least he was doing something.

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Alexis and the others learned that they had company when the dogs took off to find out who was coming. The new ones started barking, though Dixie knew who they were and she just wanted attention so she barked, too.

Kate and Howler joined Alexis who was by now looking over how to fly the city. "How's it coming?" Kate inquired since they were down to just 1 day.

"It'll fly all right. What I don't yet understand is how the air stays inside. What has me confused is that while this is the power panel that turns on the system there's another that's part of this section here. I don't yet understand just what it does.

"As for the weapons they're still adding translation tags so we know what it is we're pressing," Alexis said tiredly.

"So we can't fly yet and we can't shoot the weapons." Howler didn't like it. They were running out of time.

"I'm afraid so. But we're working on it. It's going to be really close if we can," Alexis told them.

Howler looked at Kate since they had talked about this already. "We need you to concentrate on the weapons system for now. At this time there's just the 1 mothership. If we can destroy it before it gets off a message it'll buy us some time. Even if it does get off a message it should give us another 2 days or more depending on where the others are," Kate explained. If just 1 showed up maybe they could destroy it, too, before they could get hurt. If a lot of them were spotted they could try and run.

Alexis looked between the 2 stations. "Okay, if that's what you 2 want." She would do what they wanted and pray they were right.

"We've got over 112,000 of these drones as you call them. That has to be enough to kill at least 1 mothership." Howler couldn't see how that wouldn't kill a lone mothership.

"Depends on how powerful they are, but okay." Alexis would do it.

"How are you all holding up?" Kate knew she was pushing them. But if she didn't they might all be dead.

"Tired, ma'am," Nalon answered and then turned back to her work.

Kate smiled sympathetically. "I know and I'm sorry. I'll have some more food and drink sent down. We're getting ready to evacuate the landmass and have everyone here when the mothership arrives. Just keep working. We need this system working." Kate left and Howler stayed only long enough to talk to his men.

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Alexis, Nalon, Wells and Marco were dead on their feet when Kate showed up.

Kate asked the most important question. "Are we ready? They're about an hour out. We're probably showing up on their scanner and they may have already called for support."

"Yes, ma'am." Wells and Marco came to attention and actually saluted.

"We think we've got it. We use the scanner down here to scan the target. We then transfer what we find to this device. Using this device we select a target then launch a drone. If we're right we can select any target of our choice. Right down to about the size of a common bedroom.

"Once we hit, if we hit what we want, we can do it again and again until the ship's destroyed. It looks like we need to be able to scan what we want to hit. That gets programmed into the drone then it finds the target, slams into it, and explodes," Alexis explained.

"It's sweet, ma'am." Wells loved this thing. If it worked like they thought he was looking forward to kicking some ass for a change instead of taking it and running.

Kate liked the sound of his enthusiasm. They just might survive this. "Howler has teams at the Portal, in the shuttle bay, 3 around the cafeteria where all of the non-combat teams are located. Two teams are outside of the power plant and 2 more are just outside that door." Kate pointed at the only known door into this place.

"Here, you can have this back now." Kate handed Rick his weapon. "If you want you can guard the door." Kate instantly felt Rick's arms around her; he was kissing her and then he was gone. Anyone that came through that door that wasn't green was getting shot. No one messed with his family.


	24. Chapter 24

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 24_

Wells was manning the weapons system while Marco was manning the scanner so he could find and pick a target and send it to Wells who would use it and launch a drone. Alexis was looking around Marco as he used the console to select a target. "Here they come." Alexis had no problem seeing the mothership. The damn thing was so big it was hard to miss. "Good thing these guys don't have stealth," Alexis commented just before Marco selected a target.

"I'm choosing a target," Marco called out and then sent it to Wells.

"I have the target. Programming. Firing." None of them felt a thing since the drone was far out on the edge of the city, not buried under the central tower that was taller than any of the others.

"I have the drone on scanners. SHIT! They're launching fighters. Thirty, 40, 60, and climbing. Targeting now. Sending." This was the hard part. They didn't understand the system well enough to scan, lock on multiple targets, and fire multiple drones. It was 1 at a time for them.

Marco was concentrating on the fighters and sending 1 at a time to Wells who programmed the drone and fired it. Alexis tried to follow the 1 aimed for the mothership.

Alexis raised an eyebrow as she was thinking that the drone was damn fast. "The mothership's hit. Do it again." It was still there.

Fortunately for Wells all he had to do was take the same program and fire 3 more very quickly before going back to firing drones that Marco sent him.

"There are too many!" Marco called out while he did his job. The mothership had launched hundreds and they were shooting them down 1 by 1. At this rate it was going to take hours to hit them all. "I can't keep up." They were in big trouble.

Alexis groaned since she wasn't sure just what this was going to do but it might just work. "Keep firing. I'm going to try something." She left the scanner and moved over to the flight system.

Kate meanwhile tapped her communicator. "Control, issue a city-wide warning that enemy fighters are coming and that we can expect damage," Kate ordered and almost immediately heard it being broadcast.

What they didn't see was Howler issuing orders to those teams around him as they all waited for the enemy to show up.

Alexis looked at her station and began pressing panels. "It's up, if this works."

Marco was watching his scanner and telling Wells to send more drones at the mothership. Then suddenly fighters started to disappear from his screen in large numbers.

"Something's happening. Fighters are just disappearing." He didn't understand it but he just kept sending Wells targets for him to shoot at. "Send more to the mothership, it's still there."

Wells wasn't keeping count; he just kept on programming what was sent to him and firing.

"IT BLEW UP! THE MOTHERSHIP JUST BLEW UP!" He couldn't believe it. No one knew if 1 was even capable of being destroyed.

Kate and Alexis were ready to start celebrating while Wells and Marco just kept working thanks to their training. "YES!" Rick yelled from across the room after hearing Marco yell.

"I don't get it, fighters just keep disappearing." Wells was running out of targets to be shot at. A few minutes later he announced that he was out of targets. "I don't get it. I didn't target a fraction of them. They're all gone!" He had nothing on his scanner.

Now they all burst out with a loud cheer and started to celebrate. They'd actually won and hadn't taken any losses. The celebration had all of the dogs barking since whatever this was they wanted in on it.

"Dixie!" Alexis hugged and kissed her while Nalon did the same to the closest dog to her.

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Kate was ecstatic at the victory but she had a question. "What did you do?" She was sure Alexis had done something just not what.

"Beckett!" Someone on the Control Deck called for her.

"Yes," Kate replied.

"Howler and his teams are reporting seeing fighters hit something they can't see and just blowing up. He has no explanation for it. Do you?"

"Stand by." Kate looked at Alexis and waited.

"I saw something on the flight control panel that talked about power but it wasn't the overall power panel so I pressed the panels next to it and then the power button. I was trying to think how this city could fly through space when an idea hit me.

"A shield would keep the air on the inside around the city. I had no idea if it would keep out everything else like fighters." Alexis went over to the station and pressed the power button to lower the shield and conserve power.

Kate began laughing since she couldn't think of anything else to do. It was just too fantastic.

"Scan again for me. We need to be sure," Kate told Marco.

"Scanning… I'm reading a lot of debris from the mothership but there's nothing moving. Some of it's going to hit the planet and possibly us over time." It was all he saw.

"We can raise that shield again to prevent it," Kate decided.

"Perhaps." Alexis was thinking that doing that might cause a new problem. "That shield requires power and we don't yet know how much power we have or if it will last forever. What if we run out of coal?"

Kate didn't understand the word _c__oal_ but she understood the what she meant. "We can't let the debris land on us and damage the city. Suggestions?" She felt Rick come up behind her and let him wrap his arms around her.

Rick had an idea but not exactly how to make it work. "If we stay we might be damaged. So we leave before it can."

That had Kate spinning in place to face him. "You mean fly the city to some place else." Then she turned her head to look at Alexis. "Can we do that?"

"Well, we know the shield works so we won't die from lack of oxygen. What I don't know is how much power it takes to make that shield work or how much power it takes to fly this place anywhere. Logic suggests that the longer we do that the more power it will take." There was a risk.

"Howler, come down to the weapon and scanner room, we have to make a decision like now." That junk would stay up there for a while but not forever.

"On my way." Howler tapped his communicator off and the second he did he wanted to understand just what happened and get his answers from Kate and Alexis and his men.

"What did the team decide on where to go if it's made one?" Howler asked since leaving sounded like a good plan. He was betting that mothership had sent out a signal and more than likely several motherships would be heading their way if they weren't already.

"If Alexis is right and what we plan on doing requires lots of power what they suggested might be too far." Kate wasn't sure it was the best idea.

"Triangulum," Kate told him.

"They've lost their minds!" Howler hated this idea. Even Wells and Marco began cursing softly.

"What is planet Triangulum?" Alexis inquired, not knowing what they were talking about.

"It's not a planet, it's a galaxy. About 3 million light years away," Howler explained.

Alexis's eyes shoot open and she started stuttering. "Th-th-three…three… Have they lost their minds? That's…that's." She wasn't sure she could fathom just how far away that was.

"They reasoned that the Vree are on their way to conquering this galaxy. Granted they still have a long ways to go but unless there's someone in this galaxy that can stop them they'll eventually succeed. Triangulum's far enough away that might allow us to prepare for them should they ultimately come our way. A chance to grow and maybe find allies." Kate understood the reason, not that she hadn't had the same reaction since she had.

"How far is a light year?" Rick asked since 1 million of them sounded like a really long ways away.

"A light year, Dad, is what it takes light to travel for 1 year. One light year is about 5.88 trillion miles. More times around Earth than I can even begin to imagine." Alexis was ready to just give up and get killed. It was easier. "I don't even know how fast this place can travel in FTL."

This was nuts.

"If I remember correctly simple FTL is 186, 282 miles per second. I'm not good enough to do that math in my head. For all I know we're talking about years here." Alexis couldn't believe it. This idea was stupid in the extreme.

"Unfortunately she's right. If it is simple FTL it will take us years." Howler was now convinced this was a stupid plan. "Do we even have enough food and water?"

All Kate could do was shake her head. They didn't even have a year's worth.

"What's plan B?" Rick asked but there was nothing but silence. "We're screwed. Any chance we can fight our way out of this?"

This time he watched Howler, Wells, and Marco shake their heads. As far as they were concerned they'd been lucky with just 1 mothership. A dozen or more was impossible.

"Even if that shield keeps them out we'll starve to death first."

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It was just 2 days later and while everyone had celebrated their first victory everyone but Alexis was in the conference room. Well she and the dogs.

"Where is she?" Kate glared at Rick since Kate had called for to attend this meeting. Even Nalon, her boyfriend Wells, and Marco were in attendance.

Kate was all set to use her communicator when she heard dogs barking because Alexis was running so that to them meant it was play time. To the people in the conference room that meant Alexis was coming since where she went the dogs went as well.

Alexis ran in a little out of breath and dropped her pad on the table. "I think I solved the problem. Or more accurately I have an answer. …Does this word mean anything to you?" She held up her pad to show the translation of something she'd found. "Okay, 2 words."

_Intergalactic Drive_

"Does that mean what I hope it means?" Howler suddenly had hope that they weren't all going to die when the Vree sent a lot more than 1 lone mothership.

"If I understand it correctly this drive, which is what we have by the way, is an FTL on steroids. I really need to try and understand it better, but if I think I'm right, we could travel to that galaxy, whatever it was called–" Kate interrupted her.

"Triangulum," Kate said.

"Triangulum. Anyway, we could do it in hours. Not days, not weeks, not months, or even years but hours." Alexis had everyone sitting there with their mouths hanging open. "Yeah, that's what I said."

"So what's the bad news?" Howler just knew there had to be a cost or bad news.

"That's the part I still don't understand totally yet. However, if I'm right, it's a power hog. Just getting there might use a lot of what we presently have. Which presents another problem. I don't know how much power we presently have." Alexis still had a lot of work to do.

"So we might be able to get there and it'll only take us hours to do it. We don't know how much power it requires and we don't know how much power we have or how long it will take to recover that power if we even can." Kate boiled it down and Alexis nodded.

"Nalon, your new permanent assignment is to help Alexis. I still want at least 3 teams out exploring this place. Maybe we're missing something that will help us. For now concentrate on the central tower until you run out a places to look. I want all the farming equipment brought back here in case we need to or can leave in a hurry. I also want 1 last peek at Earth. If they are sending ships there maybe that will buy us time.

"Get started and figure out how to fly this city and get us to the Triangulum galaxy. Wells, Marco, you 2 did well, but I want you to figure out if you could have done it even faster. I want you 2 to know those 2 systems inside and out. If we don't have enough power for that shield you 2 are going to be our primary defense.

"I'll have beds set up and have people deliver food and beverages to each of you. From now on you all live down there. I'll let you work out how to achieve the privacy you want. Just tell me what you need and it's yours.

"Let's get to work. We may not have that much time." Kate ended the meeting but didn't get up and neither did Rick.

"What?" Rick was staring at her.

"You're so sexy when you get so serious. …I like it." Rick grinned at her.

Kate couldn't help but grin. "In that case I order you to go to our room and strip. Be naked and waiting on our bed and get out the straps so I can tie you to the bed. I want to take advantage of you." She was still grinning.

Rick got up and walked past her; he bent down to her ear. "So sexy." He felt his cock begin to get hard and just knew it was because she was sending out her pheromones again, not that he cared.

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"You go first, I need to let the dogs out or we're going to have a mess to clean up," Alexis said to the others. She went her room and then to the large balcony just outside of it.

The first thing Nalon wanted to talk about once they reached that room was, "Where do we sleep? I'm not dancing for you and sending out pheromones to everyone down here." She was only having sex with her boyfriend.

Wells and Marco weren't listening, though. "We won!" They started doing some kind of dance and slapping hands which had Nalon shaking her head. "Men." She still loved him but he just lost a few points.

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Outside of this room they found a number of smaller rooms. They weren't much but they were really close and it did give everyone some privacy. Alexis wondered if there was enough space for her and four dogs.

"Nalon?" Alexis had a question that might help her solve a problem. "My room's really small and with four dogs I was wondering–" Nalon broke in.

"YES, I'll take Gino for you. I'll talk Wells into it even if I have to flood our room with pheromones." Nalon couldn't wait.

Alexis began laughing since using sex wasn't something she was used to. She only knew being on the other end though she doubted her boyfriend would find it as being unwanted sex or being used.

"Thanks." That was going to help at least.

"What do you think Gino, you want to stay with me?" Nalon reached down to pet him which got him up since he thought Nalon was going to finally play with him. The other 3 were sleeping somewhere.

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Two days later Kate was in the control room looking around and checking on everything. They were still in the process of getting everything off the island and back to the city. She had even created a rationing system until they arrived at a planet in the Triangulum galaxy and then they could start all over again.

Elio was at the long distance scanner and called for her. "Ma'am?"

Kate stepped over to him but didn't really need to ask. There were a number of contacts on the scanner. Kate tapped her communication tag. "Howler, come up to the Control Deck immediately. We have trouble already." She was betting that would get him going.

She was proven right when he showed up a minute later huffing and puffing. "Why didn't they build elevators? …What have we got?"

"Eleven motherships just came into range and their course is right for us," Elio reported.

"Times up. …How long?" How much time did they have this time?

"Just under two days, same as last time," Kate told him since she'd already asked that. "We haven't done the peek at Earth yet. I'm guessing that we don't need to look any longer now." The only real reason was to see if the Vree were concentrating on Earth again.

"No. I'll let you break it to your mate and Alexis." He withstood the glare of thank you from Kate for that.

"We need to go tell the others. We have maybe a day and a half before we need to be off this planet and underway." Kate nodded and walked with Howler right behind her.

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Howler went to his 2 men, Wells and Marco, while Kate took everyone else. She decided to rip the band-aid off when telling them. "We have motherships on the long range scanner." She saw Nalon and Alexis all but collapse. She found Rick down there and he started cursing.

"How long?" Alexis asked.

Kate broke it to them. "Just under 2 days but we need to be away from here before then so we're thinking a day and a half. You 2 need to be ready by then."

Nalon looked at Alexis since she wasn't sure they were ready yet. "We'll be ready since we don't have a choice." Alexis wasn't sure how but she was betting not getting any sleep was going to be involved.

"Sorry. If it was just 1 we would do what we did last time. But with 11 on the way." Kate shook her head. It was too many for them.

"I suppose that means the trip to Earth is off now?" That was what concerned Rick at the moment.

"I'm afraid so. We need to be ready to leave. We don't have the luxury to take a peek any longer. I'm really sorry, babe." She knew what his planet meant to him. Just as much as hers meant to her.

"Grams." Alexis sat back and just wanted to cry. Their last chance had just come to an end.

"But we have 2 days. Well 1 and a half." It sounded like more than enough time to take a peek.

Kate hated to do it but it was necessary. "Say we take a look and we find motherships in orbit. How many does it take to go to New York City and search it for 1 person? They attacked your shuttle in London. Is 3 a small enough number? What if it's 4? 5? When does the gain exceed what we might lose?

"You, 2 men, and a shuttle. Give the enemy a shuttle when even we don't know all that it can do. I'm not losing you, babe. I'm not. Please don't ask me to risk your life for 1 person." He had to know what he meant to her. They were mates.

"She has a point, Dad, as much as I hate it. What if you get trapped down there and when you finally get off the planet we're already gone. Do you want to end up with an egg inside you?" Alexis hated it but Kate was right.

Rick groaned. He was abandoning his mother and that just wasn't right. It was just that it didn't look like he had a choice. "I'm sorry, Mother."


	25. Chapter 25

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 25_

"All 11 Vree motherships have exited FTL. They'll be here in about an hour," Marco informed everyone.

Unfortunately they were behind schedule and still sitting on water on the planet. "Alexis?" Kate knew all of this was in her hands and she was sorry for that. It was just that no one else understood the systems like she did. If they were going to escape it was going to be because of her.

"I'm working on it. We're sitting on water, you know. We weigh a number I'm not sure I even understand." Actually the math wasn't the problem. That was easy enough for her to do with the help of her pad. It was just her head couldn't imagine anything weighing that much.

"When we take off all of that water is going to want to go with us. That means even more weight. Perhaps even a vacuum." Alexis tried to use her hands to demonstrate. "We go up and try and take a lot of water with us. All that water is going to create a pocket under us and try and pull us back down. If I use up too much power trying to get us off the water we may run out before we even get there, let alone land there." Alexis went back to work.

"Thirty minutes," Marco called out and started sending scans of motherships to Wells so he could program some drones to fire.

"Alexis?" Kate was really starting to get worried. They had done this time what they had done last time with just the 1 mothership. Howler had teams spread out all over in case they managed to get people into the city.

Alexis decided it was to try something. She activated the shield early and then activated the engines, and took off. Maybe that would create a barrier between them and the water and make it easier.

"They are all launching fighters. They've already launched more than I can count," Marco called out.

"Firing on mothership," Wells called out and pressed panels. Like last time they didn't feel the drone being fired. Funny thing was they didn't feel anything.

"It's all working!" Alexis couldn't believe it. The inertial dampener was doing its job by not putting them all on the floor and the shield was allowing them to lift off the water and not pull vast amounts of the liquid with them.

"Here come the fighters," Marco warned them all. Then he was all smiles. "They're hitting the shield just like last time." To him that meant the previous mothership hadn't been able to warn the others about the shield. So these fighters hit it and died just like the others.

Then Marco was ready to celebrate. "One mothership just blew up." But the problem was there were 10 more so he needed to keep sending scan results to Wells so he could blow up another 1.

"We've got a problem!" Alexis was looking at the scan results so she knew where to go. "They're trying to surround us and since their ships are really big it just might work." She didn't want to know what hitting a mothership with their shield was going to do. Blow up the mothership more than likely. But it maybe be too much for the shield and force them back down to the planet.

"FTL now?" Rick asked.

That had Alexis looking at her dad. "Now?" They weren't even in space yet.

Kate made the decision. "NOW!"

"Now." Alexis hadn't prepared for that. "Okay." She didn't know all that much about FTL and didn't know if you could even do this while still in atmosphere. However, she knew Kate and her people did so she started pressing panels.

"Firing," Wells called out since he was still doing his job.

"Cross your fingers." Alexis was down to just 1 panel left to press if she had the process correct. Then she saw another word and pressed that panel first and then activated the FTL drive.

They didn't see or feel a thing. But the Vree saw a huge disturbance form just in front of it and then surged forward into it and disappeared just as another of their motherships blew up.

Alexis was looking at her displays just as Marco announced, "They're all gone! All the motherships are gone." He knew they hadn't blown them all up; it couldn't have been them.

"**IT WORKED!**" Alexis shot her arms into the air. "We're in FTL and we didn't blow up!" Alexis began swinging her hips around in a dance. Then Nalon made her stop.

"You need to stop," Nalon said and saw the look Alexis was giving her. She wanted to celebrate. "I'll explain later." It deflated Alexis's enthusiasm but she was still happy.

"How long?" Kate inquired since they had only talked about it being hours but not a set amount of time.

"Well, I've never done this before. I've never even left Earth before let alone fly to another galaxy." Alexis sighed and guessed. "Four hours minimum, maybe 6 or more. Certainly not years." That alone was amazing. Doing what they were doing should be impossible. They were talking light years here that was so far away that she couldn't really wrap her mind around just how far.

"Have you ever traveled to another galaxy?" Alexis asked, looking at Kate. Her race had at least been in space far longer than Earth had been. Kate shook her head.

"We need to be ready for what we find. …What if we find a race that's worse than the Vree? If the first system we come to doesn't have a planet suitable for us? What if that planet's already inhabited? What if–" Kate interrupted her with a wave of her hand to get her to stop.

"We're having a meeting in an hour just for that. We may still have to make a decision based on what we find when we get there. I want all of you to stay here and monitor everything. You're with me, babe. Meet me in the conference room." Kate started to walk away then stopped.

"Thank you, everyone. You just saved all our lives." Kate smiled at them and started walking again.

Kate was gone and so was Rick. "Where's the alcohol?" Marco queried and watched Wells walk off and come back with a bottle and 4 shot glasses.

"It's 3 weeks old." Wells handed out the glasses.

"Moonshine!" Alexis hadn't even had a beer yet. She was sure she wasn't old enough for alcohol yet. Plus she knew what happened when you drank too much. She also feared becoming addicted to the stuff.

Alexis held her glass as Wells poured in some for her and then raised her glass when everyone else did. She watched them drink the entire contents in 1 swallow.

Wells and Marco didn't have a problem. Nalon didn't cough but her voice sounded different. "Smooth."

Alexis sniffed it and didn't really smell anything. So she sipped a tiny amount and experienced what felt like having her mouth ripped open. Then it burned down her throat while assaulting her sinuses.

It had her coughing and choking. "You can drink this stuff?" She handed her glass back to Wells. She'd had enough already. "It grows on you," Nalon insisted.

"If you say it'll grow hair on my chest I'm never drinking anything ever again." That got the 3 of them to start laughing at Alexis's little joke.

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Kate, Rick, Howler, Heuer, and a couple of others were in the conference room when their talks were interrupted. "Ma'am you are needed on the Control Deck immediately."

Kate moaned but moved quickly and saw a couple of the staff at the long distance scanner. Howler was right behind her.

"We've spotted a ship on the scanner. At our present speed we're going to go past it in just minutes unless we decide to stop now. We have like 2 minutes or less now to decide," Patrick said.

"What ship? If it's a Vree mothership I say we just leave it where it is and keep going." Howler didn't think they needed the hassle even if they could handle just 1 Vree mothership now.

"It's been identified as Orion. It's the ILLUSTRIA!" The 2 that had spotted it and learned what it was were shocked enough. Now they got to add Kate and Howler.

"You're kidding?" Howler looked at the display again.

Kate tapped her communicator tag. "Alexis, we need to exit FTL! You have 30 seconds!"

"What! Why? Are you serious? …Of course you're serious. Give me a minute." Alexis hadn't anticipate stopping now. She could only hope that they could get going again.

"You have 20 seconds." She couldn't have a minute. A minute would be too long.

They all heard Alexis groan but she finally said, "We're out of FTL. Can you tell me why now?"

Marco beat her to it. "I have a ship on scanner. It's not a Vree mothership. …I'll be damned. It's Orion. It says it's the ILLUSTRIA!" He hadn't expected that. "What the hell is that doing out here?"

"What's ILLUSTRIA?" Alexis inquired just as Rick joined Kate and Howler.

"What she said." Rick didn't understand either.

However, instead of anyone answering either of them, Kate said, "Scan it. Can we board it? Get a team in a shuttle ready." Kate looked at Howler for that last one.

Howler walked away and began issuing orders.

"Somebody want to answer my question?" Alexis said loudly and everyone heard her.

Howler chose now to come back. "The ILLUSTRIA was the first battleship Orion ever made. It was lost on its very first flight test and was never heard from again. Because of that we never made another one."

"That might have contributed to why we lost so fast. We had no warship that even approached the size of the ILLUSTRIA. It's still far smaller than a Vree mothership but you never know." Howler couldn't wait to get inside and find out what had happened to it.

"A shuttle crew is on the way. I'm going with them this time," Howler informed her since he wasn't going to negotiate that with her.

"Take a full combat team with you for this one. That ship's been missing for a long time. For all we know there might not even be Orions onboard any longer. Even if there are it might not be the original crew. In any case they may not like visitors who are here to save them," Kate said.

Howler nodded since he agreed. Then he called for a full combat team in space suits to report to the shuttle deck.

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The first problem was getting inside. The shuttle didn't have an airlock and when you opened the back ramp it opened up the entire shuttle to space, even if they had learned that a wall would close off the 2 flight seats from the rest of the shuttle.

Howler knew where the ILLUSTRIA's airlocks were located though he wanted to see the entire ship before they stopped at 1.

Their communications were totally open so that anything everyone said could be heard by everyone on the Control Deck.

"I think we found the problem. The engineering section's almost entirely missing and open to space. Clearly a significant malfunction has occurred here," Howler commented.

"No chance it was weapons fire?" Kate asked him.

"Negative. The ship's skin is bent from the inside out. Definitely caused by a major malfunction on the inside. There are no running lights still on. The ship's dark in that regard. We're moving to the bridge airlock now." Howler was sure it wasn't due to combat.

"Interesting." Howler and the others saw it. "The bridge appears to be lit though I don't see anyone at this time."

"They have power? Is that possible after all this time? With engineering gone they don't have main power." Kate didn't understand how that was possible.

"ILLUSTRIA had the first regenerating thorium-based reactor as secondary power. It's possible that one or more still functions. We don't use them anymore but at the time it was state of the art. If they were careful with their power usage they still might have enough thorium.

"My big question is what are they eating after all this time. They can't ever run out of oxygen or fresh water but just what are they eating?" Howler wondered out loud.

Rick's writer's imagination had an answer for that question even if it was a sick one. "Cannibalism?"

"Ew, Dad!" Alexis made a face of disgust as now that thought was burned into her brain.

"Disgusting." Kate made a face just like Alexis while everyone else simply made a face.

Howler, though, wasn't grossed out. "Possible. Stop here. Team One get ready. You're going to open the airlock door. Team Two you have the secondary airlock door. We'll enter in teams. The flight crew will remain behind. Avoid firing at anyone if you can and please don't put any more holes in this ship." It couldn't be saved but that didn't mean they couldn't take it apart and reuse something.

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Kate and the others listened as Team One opened the airlock door. Team Two entered and closed the door behind them then opened the interior door.

"Clear!" They saw no one so Team One entered next while Team Two covered the only entrance onto the bridge. Howler and his team went next.

"Not all of the bridge controls appear to be operational. All the lighting seems to be all emergency lights. Power consumption at least on the bridge looks to be minimal." Howler gave orders while he looked over the bridge controls. "Team One, move out. Team Two, you follow."

"All of the engineering section is dark." He moved to another section. "Environmentals are operational." He moved to another one. "Communications are down except for internal." He was tempted to use it to announce that they were here but chose not to.

Howler moved to another station. "Secondary power is at the very minimum and most of it looks to be going where we thought." From there he sat down in the captain's chair and tried to make the controls work.

"Interesting, the bridge chair is not operational. Strange." He was interrupted when his first team came in contact with someone.

Team One reported in. "Sir, we have encountered our first person. It's a small Orion girl. Maybe 5 or 6 years old. She's just standing there staring at us."

"On my way." Howler jumped out of the chair and moved quickly to join his team.

"A child!" Kate hadn't expected that.

"This is Team Two. We have found 4 adult Orion males and females. They ran from us. None of them are wearing suits, sir." That meant this place had a breathable atmosphere.

"Everyone hold position. No firing and no direct contact yet." Howler stopped in his tracks, went back to the bridge, and moved over to the communication station.

Howler took the risk and cracked open his helmet and took a breath. He found the air was good so he took his helmet off and activated the internal communication system. "This is Captain Jerome Howler of the Orion Directorate. Your ship the ILLUSTRIA has been found by a ship of the Orion Directorate. My teams are presently searching this ship. I wish to avoid any direct combat between us. Please respond." Howler waited for a response.

Howler was all set to do that again when he heard, "You are who again?"

"I am Captain Jerome Howler of the Orion Directorate. We have discovered your ship and are searching for survivors. May I ask who you are?" It would help if they used names.

"I am Door. You are really an Orion from an Orion ship?" It was impossible.

"Yes, sir. We can evacuate everyone off this ship and onto ours. I would like to meet so we can talk. My present location is the bridge. Where can we meet?" Maybe this was going to be easier than he had thought.

"Garden bay, possibly," Door said.

That didn't help Howler a bit. The battleship didn't have a garden so his response made no sense. "How about the medical bay instead?" He thought that would be a lot easier.

"We don't use that area any longer, but I suppose." Door didn't get it. Why would he want to meet there? But he knew where it was.

"Thank you, I will look for you there." Howler picked up his helmet and carried it, his weapon in his other hand. It didn't sound like he needed it but he wasn't stupid.

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"How are we doing?" Kate asked since everyone from the ILLUSTRIA was now off the ship and being shown to their rooms before being shown where the cafeteria was located.

"Everyone's off. I have 3 teams searching the ship for anything we can use. According to Door they're all the descendants of the original crew. The oldest is only 26 years old while the youngest is a five-year-old girl. We're presently downloading everything on the computer."

Howler summed up what they'd learned so far. "According to Door, what little he knows or had been told was that there was an accident in Engineering. It resulted in the deaths of everyone in that section. After that several of the crew became sick and died a few months later. It explains the mess I found in Medical and why he didn't understand why I wanted to meet him there."

"So what happened to everyone else? My memory tells me that the ILLUSTRIA had a crew of over 300 people. How can we be down to just these few and what were they eating?" A lot of time had passed, yes, but why were these people even alive at all?

"Hopefully that will be answered by a study of their computer. But I have a feeling it has something to do with the huge garden that now takes up most of the flight deck save for 1 bay and why all of the shuttles are missing," Howler told her and saw the look she was giving him.

"All but one of the shuttle bays presently has tons of dirt in them and that's where they've been growing food," Howler explained.

Kate thought about that and tapped her communication tag. "I want everyone from the ILLUSTRIA in Medical immediately. Find all of them and send them there immediately. Use force if you have to. That's an order." Kate tapped it again to close it.

"I don't understand?" Howler didn't get it.

Kate began to explain. "There's only 1 place they could get dirt: from a planet. Not everyone died in the explosion and yet all we have left are kids and a medical bay that's been stripped of everything and I'm guessing you didn't find any bodies."

"OH, SHIT!" Howler hung his head. "I'm an idiot! I better not have just gotten us all killed." Save for the kids that had an immunity.

"We have a couple of very modern medical bays, let's hope they can do something about it." Kate tapped her communicator again. "Alexis, get us back in FTL so we can reach our destination. We need a planet we can land on." They couldn't stay out here. Their force field was using up power.

"We need to recall our teams first." Howler knew they still had people on that ship.

Kate groaned that even she was making mistakes already. "Alexis, hold on that. We need to get people off of the ILLUSTRIA first." She couldn't believe she was that stupid.


	26. Chapter 26

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 26_

Kate had been summoned to Medical a couple of hours later, just after they'd left the Orion Battleship ILLUSTRIA behind them.

But she was lost and at the moment she had no idea where she was. She remembered she was trying to get to Medical. "Medical. …Medical." She started walking again. She opened up the door and suddenly she found herself in Medical.

"You called?" She went up to Doctor…Doctor… She couldn't remember his name.

"We've got a problem. …I think." Dr. Heuer shook his head. He just had it. Why couldn't he remember?

A nurse came up to tell him, "Doctor, we've got another one," and both of them followed her. "He was found wandering the corridors and can't even tell us his name. Rask is still in the medical scanner. Should I remove him if you're done with him?" She needed the scanner for the new patient.

"Rask?" He didn't remember him being in the scanner. "Let me see." He began to walk to his left but it was the wrong way. Then he turned around and went toward the scanner with Kate right behind him.

Sure enough he was still lying in the scanner with the display being shown on the screen just above him. "He looks fine." He saw nothing obvious.

"What's this?" Kate pointed at a red spot on the screen.

"Nurse, scan this section only." He pointed where Kate had indicated.

She managed to do just that but didn't know what to do next. "What's this?" Kate asked as they all saw what looked like a line in red inside his head.

"I don't…I don't know," the doctor said, bewildered.

Kate felt lost; she needed him so she tapped her communicator. "Babe, I need you. I'm in…in… Where am I?"

"Kate? Tell me where you are." Rick had already seen people walking around with a blank look on their faces. "Kate, where are you?"

When she didn't answer him he began to get really worried. "Tell me what you see. Can you describe it for me?"

"I see… White. People are in white. Why do they all wear white?" Kate didn't understand.

"Medical. I'm on my way." Rick started running then tapped his communicator. "Pumpkin, something's going on. Can you meet me in Medical?" Rick thought he was going to need help.

"Yeah, you're telling me. Wells, Marco, and Nalon look like zombies. I'm coming." Alexis considered for a moment to take them out of FTL since there was going to be no one flying the city if she left. But they still had about 2 or 3 hours left in FTL to get to where they wanted to go. So she left them in FTL and began running.

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Alexis reached Medical and saw nothing but zombies standing still or wandering around aimlessly. "Dad?"

He was standing next to Kate who had the same zombie look on her face. "She doesn't even see me, I don't think. It's gotten worse since I've been here." Rick was deeply frightened and didn't know what to do.

"Yeah, I saw nothing but zombies on the way up here." Alexis saw they were standing in front of the Medical scanner so she took a look at what was on the screen. "Dad, come look."

Rick didn't want to leave Kate but he wasn't doing her any good. "What?" He moved next to Alexis.

"What does this look like to you?" Alexis pointed at the screen.

"Looks like a… Like a worm if that's possible. Where is it?" The view was zoomed way in so it didn't make any sense to him. He watched as Alexis manipulated the controls, getting it to zoom out some.

"In his head." Alexis looked around. "It's a parasite!" That was easy to figure out.

"Where did that come from?" None of them had one before now.

"What's changed recently?" Alexis asked and tried to think.

"That Orion ship!" Rick thought he had found the answer.

"There were survivors. Go find some of them and bring them here. I think Kate said something about downloading their computer. Go read what it says after you bring some of them here. You read faster than me." He was still standing there. "Get going, Dad!"

"New Orions, got it." Rick took off running and ran a hand across Kate's shoulder who just stood there.

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"What's wrong with them?" Door asked as he and 3 others were dropped off by Rick who then ran to the Control Deck.

"They all have a parasite in their head. This started after you guys showed up. What can you tell me?" Alexis asked.

"Nothing. We had nothing to do with it." He was innocent.

Alexis took him over to the scanner and pointed. "This is what's in his head. It shouldn't be there and wasn't there until recently. It had to come from you or your ship. What happened to the people before you? The people who came with the ship?"

"I was just a kid. Mom, Dad, and others took shuttles down to a planet to bring back dirt and fill up the ship. We needed food to eat. A little later everyone got sick. The older kids ejected the dead bodies and tended the plants so we had food. That's it," Door said.

Alexis tried to piece it together. "You brought dirt from a planet. You must have brought a parasite with you and it killed everyone like it's killing everyone on this ship. But why are you immune?" These people should be just as dead.

"Help me get him off and on a bed." She needed the scanner.

"Now lay down for me. It won't hurt and you'll never feel a thing." Alexis needed him in the scanner.

"You're clean. Why are you clean? Why are Dad and I not affected? You're Orion, I'm mostly Orion just maybe not my brain or at least not enough. Dad's human. The parasite doesn't like human brains but why doesn't it like yours?" Something wasn't adding up.

Alexis tapped her communicator tag. "Dad, you need to read faster. See if you can find the medical records. Everyone but you and I have a parasite in their heads except for the Orions from that ship. There's something the 7 of us have in common. We need to find out what it is and how to kill this thing." Alexis needed information.

"I'm reading, I'm reading." Rick was reading as fast as he could.

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Alexis knew nothing about Medical and Door and the others with him knew even less about it. "Better hurry up, Dad." Alexis had gotten Door to help him put the first guy on the scanner so she could look at it again.

"It doesn't look any different to me." Alexis zoomed in and then zoomed in again. "It's in the arteries, not literally in or on the brain. Just does that help us?"

Then a huffing and puffing Rick showed up and bent over with his hands on his legs. "They put an enzyme into their children's blood. They decided it was too late for them but not for their children. Something about the older you are the faster it advances."

"Great! What enzyme?" There could be thousands of the things for all she knew.

Rick handed her a file for her to read so she plugged it into her tablet. "How do we make this and get it into them? All of them and fast?"

"Well in those James Bond movies they would put it into the air conditioning system and force everyone to breathe it. We just need to find an air return," Rick suggested.

"We need the enzyme first. Expose your arm I need some blood." Alexis scrambled to find a syringe.

"My blood! Why my blood?" He hated needles.

"I'm immune and you're immune. I want your blood and their blood to see if the system can identify the enzyme then figure out how to make it. A lot of it." The city was really big.

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"You sure this thing is making anything?" Rick watched what Alexis was watching.

"Well it says it's making it so we wait. Looks like it's fast, though." Alexis watched as the green bar got longer and longer rather quickly.

"Here, take this one and start spraying here in Medical. Especially the doctor and nurses. I need the help if it works fast enough." Alexis handed him a can and then started the next one.

Rick sprayed it right into Kate's face first before he sprayed it into the face of everyone else in the room and then did it again just to make sure. "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing," Rick told himself then went back to Alexis with his empty can.

Just as he did he saw her hand a can to Door and tell him to go find people and spray it then come back for another one.

Rick waited for his empty can to be full. "Control Deck first and then anyone you can find on the way back," Alexis said.

"Shouldn't we be spraying this into the A/C system?" Wouldn't that be faster?

"We will but this city's huge and right now I'm thinking we should concentrate on where people are located and not where they aren't. Just pray this works since I have no idea if it will." Alexis was sure she was guessing. Plus her dad had said the adults had thought it was too late for them.

Rick began running again. "Here this is yours. Do you know where the cafeteria is?" She thought that might be a good place to spray next. She saw him nod and start running.

"This one's yours. Find anyone you can that isn't from your ship and spray." Alexis handed off another one.

She then repeated it twice more until she was out of people to hand cans to. She was the one making this stuff and she was running out of cans to fill.

Alexis tapped her communicator tag. "Dad, if you're done I need you down here to get another one. This one you need to take down to Wells, Marco, and Nalon. Only you and I know where that is."

Alexis didn't hear from him but soon she did hear someone running and then her dad was standing there sucking in as much air as he could. "Here, better run, Dad." Alexis took his empty can so she could reuse it.

Rick groaned since it was a long way down there but at least it was all down and not up the stairs he had climbed earlier.

Alexis saw him run so she filled his empty can. Luckily the man that went to the cafeteria came back for another one. "It's empty. Lots of people." He handed over his now empty can, took the next one, and began running back to the cafeteria.

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Alexis had gotten Rick to put Kate in the scanner and now he and the others were watching as their cans emptied into a return air grille until they stopped then they ran to Medical to refill them.

They were running to Medical for the third time and watched as Alexis refilled all the cans. "How is she?" He meant Kate and Alexis knew it.

"I think it's working. But what I really need is for the doctor to get better. Say this works and the parasite dies. Where does its dead body go since it's in the arteries? It makes it to the heart and does that cause a heart attack or say a stroke? We need the doctor more than Kate. I'm sorry, Dad." She knew he loved her but this was different.

"Here, back to the return air vent." Alexis watched them run away and then filled the lone can that remained.

"Is more too much or is there ever too much?" Alexis chose to spray 1 of the nurses with another dose just in case.

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"Hi!" Rick smiled in relief as he held Kate's hand and watched her open her eyes. He saw a weak smile in return. "How do you feel?"

Kate used her free hand and put it on her head. "My head is killing me! What happened?" She was barely thinking straight as she willed her headache to go away.

Rick told her everything he could think of at the moment. "You had a parasite. Almost everyone did. It seems that Orion ship sent out its shuttles to a planet that was within range after losing engineering. They filled them with dirt and brought it back and filled those same bays with dirt. They used the dirt to plant plants they also found on that same planet. Without engines they couldn't go anywhere so they needed food. They decided to grow the food.

"It worked, too. They've been growing food for years and eating it with no side affects. Except the dirt they brought back had a parasite in it. Its eggs are microscopic and they got airborne into the ship's spaces. Before they knew it all the adults were affected. By then some of the crew had had children. Just babies, really, or little kids.

"It was when they got their first crop was when it had happened. Luckily for the kids the doctor found out what it was and how to kill it. He had just one problem. The adults were far too infected while the kids were not. So they were cured and lived on with that immunity.

"Then we came along. The eggs were still viable and we ended up infected by bringing the air from their ship back here. It's not their fault. They had no idea. They actually helped to disperse the cure."

"So who saved us? Doctor Heuer?" It was her first guess as she continued to hold her head since it still hurt.

"He was infected, too. It was actually Alexis." Rick smiled proudly since his daughter was their savior.

Kate huffed out a laugh and then moaned since that hurt her head. "That young woman is amazing. I don't know what we'd do without her." Kate was sure it wouldn't be good or at least not this good.

"You can tell her. She's in the other room with the doctor. They're going over what she did with him so he can decide if there's something more to do." Rick kept smiling.

"So where are we?" In FTL still came to mind.

"We landed on a planet. It's been just over 2 days," Rick said.

"TWO DAYS!" Kate began to get up only to lie back down just as fast, groaning from the pain.

"You and everyone else aren't going anywhere. We're fine for now so just relax and get better." Rick put his free hand on her chest to hold her in place.

"So why are you standing and looking so handsome?" Kate was sure she looked like shit since she felt like shit.

"Alexis and I are immune. Something about our human brains not being compatible. I didn't understand it." It was over his head. He was just glad nothing happened.

Kate tried to smile. They were alive because of Alexis and one human. "You still want to be an Orion?" It sounded like they might all be dead if he was one.

"So we can have a family together? Yes. It'll always be yes, Kate." Maybe she would change her mind.

"The answer is still no. But I'll think about it." It was the most she was willing to do. It did earn her a kiss, though. "I still love you and I'm glad you're my mate." Kate finally managed a true smile.

"I love you too." Then Rick really kissed her but stopped before he got her pheromones going.

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Kate had everyone in the conference room. "I won't ask how you're all feeling because I still feel like crap. I'm still sure my head is going to explode." Kate put both hands on her head since this was almost as much thinking she had done in the last 20 some odd hours. One of her many questions that were likely never going to be answered was why bring up dirt. Why not just move to the plant and live there?

"Alexis has found us a planet and landed on it. So what do we know about it?" Was it useful or not?

That got Alexis to lift up her pad. "We're on what Star Trek would call a class M planet. Sorry just a little joke. It has a breathable atmosphere, has one massive land mass, and no native advanced wildlife that we can find so far. It looks like this planet is still recovering from a planet-wide ice age so it's a little cold outside.

"The poles are still covered in ice. The equator, which is where we're located, is the only warm zone currently. The planet's orbit is elliptical and we are presently close to the sun so we're here in the warmest time it has. Winter is likely to be brutal." Alexis told them what she and Rick had gathered so far.

"So do we stay? Can we leave and if we leave is there somewhere else to go?" Kate asked and wished she'd kept her mouth shut because all that did was make her head hurt.

Alexis answered her question. "We're in a different galaxy so there are countless systems for us to go to. Will the next one be better than this one? Who knows. Will it even have a planet that has enough water we can land on? Will it already be inhabited by an advanced enough species? Will all of the planets in that system and the next one be nothing but rock and gas giants? I have no idea."

"Any signs of ships from any race in the area?" Howler inquired since he wanted to know if they had left one fight only to get into another one.

Marco replied to his question. "Negative. There's nothing within range. A close scan of this planet doesn't show that any race has ever been here. Though over 50% is still solid ice."

"Okay, if we're going to stay we need to figure out if we can grow food and if there's anything here that we can eat and grow. Might as well send out teams in shuttles and see what we can find. And please, don't bring back anymore parasites! I still haven't recovered from the last one." Her head still hurt. "Oh, and test the water we're sitting on to find out if we can make it drinkable."

"I can tell you that if there's anything here we're going to need to build greenhouses to grow most anything and keep it. When winter comes it'll kill everything. Our best bets might be anywhere we can find a volcano. Some place nice and warm," Alexis said.

"Okay, you have your orders. Let's see where we are and if we like it. If we don't can we move again?" Kate looked at Alexis.

"That last trip took a lot out of us but, yes. I'm just not sure how many times we can do that. It's not so much the flying as it is getting this big thing out into space then landing it again. Just keep in mind any move might be our last one if we land anywhere," Alexis warned.

"Then we try and make this place work. Use that and see what it takes. We'll find a way to build whatever we need." Kate changed topics. "How are our new guests?"

Doctor Heuer answered that one. "Happy and amazed. They've been living with far less and can't believe this place or their rooms. They've complained about the food, though. They're also very healthy all things considered."

"Let's get started, people. We find a way to stay or we move." Kate was done and what she really wanted was to go to bed and feel better in the morning.


	27. Chapter 27

**RV Summer**

_Chapter 27_

Kate was in the conference room which had become her new second home. When she wasn't in their room she was usually found there. Right now she was going over reports of how things were going all throughout their home. When suddenly there were hands massaging her shoulders.

Kate knew there was only one person who would dare touch her like that. Besides she knew those hands. Rick had some of the best hands and she was addicted. She needed to keep reading but those hands….

She leaned back in her chair and succumbed to his hands. "You're working too hard again, aren't you?" Rick questioned her but didn't stop.

"Staying on this planet is a challenge. We need to keep on top of everything and that's my job. I knew that when I took it. I just happen to like my job a lot more now. …I've got you." She still loved him more than she had words for.

"If you're going to get all mushy on me I'm going to stop." He wouldn't but she didn't need to know that.

"I'll hurt you if you do." Kate knew Rick really well by now.

"Now there's the woman I love." Rick stopped for just a moment to kiss the top of her head. "So what are you reading that has your shoulders this tight again.?" And went back to massaging her shoulders.

"Our third greenhouse is almost finished. We should be able to get it planted before our first winter sets in. I wanted to thank you for helping them. That construction and moving all that dirt took a lot of people." She was proud of him.

"I happen to like eating so I was happy to help. It also sounds like I'm not done yet." Rick heard the word _almost_ and that told him there was still more work to do.

"This is just the first 3. We have 3 more to build next summer. I think we have enough food until then. What we don't have a lot of is meat. That's a problem that still needs to be solved." Kate stopped talking. She moaned and let his hands work their magic.

She let out a deep breath. "Okay, back to work." She felt so much better and she still had a lot to do.

Rick stopped but he didn't leave. He sat down in a chair next to her instead.

Kate looked up from what she was reading. "Something else, babe?" She should have known he didn't come here just to work on her shoulders.

"It's Alexis. She's dating some kid." He wasn't sure he was ready for this. He had heard enough about Micheal to make his blood boil. He still wasn't sure he wasn't going to lose it and do something that might be stupid.

"Bialy. I've met him. He seems like a nice kid. He's one of the ones from the ILLUSTRIA. He's been a big help in what to plant and how to make it grow. He's had a lot of practice." Kate liked him. She saw the look on his face. "What's wrong with him?" She had learned he was picky when it came to who had access to his daughter.

"They're dating! That's what's wrong with him." Rick couldn't understand why Kate didn't see the problem. "She's too young to be dating."

"Alexis is 17, babe. And she acts far older than she is. That and she's smarter than any of us. She's an incredible young woman who knows what she's doing." Kate was happy for her.

Listening to Rick groan was starting to piss her off. "There are just so many of us, you know. She deserves to find someone. …Or do you really want her to be all alone the rest of her life?" Kate was ready to hurt him big time if he said too much.

"She has her dogs," Rick argued then saw the look Kate was giving him. "No." He had married Kate and was really happy. "Can't she just wait until she's 30?"

"Do not ruin this for her, Rick. She isn't a little girl any longer. You should be proud of her. We're all alive because of her." Kate was beyond proud of her even if she wasn't her daughter. Even if she still didn't want to have kids.

"Can't I be proud of her and want her to wait until she's 30?" Rick grumbled.

"NO! Don't you have more work to do? We need to finish that greenhouse before the first snow." If he was busy he wouldn't have time to worry about what Alexis was doing or not doing.

"I… Yeah." She was right, he did. They were probably waiting for him at their shuttle right now.

"If you're good I'll work on your back tonight. Then maybe flip you and tie you to the bed," Kate teased and watched him perk up.

"Sometimes I wonder if you just love me for my body," Rick teased right back, not that he cared. He loved her far too much to care if she did.

"Oh, I do, babe, I most certainly do. Now get to work and let me get back to mine." Kate watched him get up and lean down to kiss her. She held his head in place to give him a deep kiss. Big enough to hold both of them until tonight.

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Alexis was actually scared. She thought they were ready but she needed a little help. She knocked on the door and right away heard Gino barking and was soon barking just the other side of the door. Only her boyfriend Wells answered the door. "Is Nalon here?" She needed her and not her boyfriend. "Hi Gino!" Alexis knelt down so she could pet him since to him she was part of his pack.

"It's for you!" Wells called out and left the door.

"Alexis?" Nalon wasn't expecting her. She and Wells had today off. Besides they didn't have anyone to shoot at and they were sitting on a planet. Their scanner, they'd learned, was a short range while the one on the Control Deck was a long range scanner. If anyone got close it would be spotted there first.

"Can we talk?" Alexis meant privately.

"Sure. …Back inside, Gino. Come on, boy. Go see Roy. Maybe he'll take you for a walk and then OUTSIDE SO HE CAN DO HIS BUSINESS," Nalon yelled the latter so he could hear her.

"Where to? Your place?" Alexis still lived alone. And soon they were walking to Alexis's room.

"How's Bialy?" Nalon was curious since word that they were dating was out. And she and Roy had gone to see a movie with them. Sort of a double date at Alexis's request.

"That's what I want to talk with you about," Alexis admitted.

"Oh?" Nalon was really interested now.

First, though, Nalon had to pet Mya, Hannah, and Dixie and throw a stuffed toy a couple of times until Alexis took her into one of the bedrooms and closed the door, locking out the dogs.

"I…" Alexis fidgeted a bit since this was big. "I want you to teach me how to dance." She hoped Nalon knew what she meant since explaining exactly what she wanted was embarrassing.

"You mean like dance to… YES!" Nalon squealed. Her best friend wanted her to teach her how to dance and drive her boyfriend mad. Mad enough that he had to fuck her.

"Okay, first there's more than just dancing. You have to tease him. You have to get him interested in you so that that gets your pheromones working and drives him mad with desire.

"Now first thing. We need to get your hips moving like this." Nalon demonstrated and Alexis wasn't sure her hips could move like that.

"Yeah, like that. Now just relax and stop trying so hard. Less muscle and more movement." Nalon kept demonstrating while encouraging her.

"That looks good but you need more practice. Now while you do that you need to start removing your top. Give him peeks at your boobs. Don't take everything off. You want to tease him, not just stand there naked." Nalon continued to show her and give advice.

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"You're doing great, Alexis. Now just keep practicing. You want it to look smooth, not jerky. You just thought about doing this or that and swing those hips and don't forget to turn your back on him and show him your ass." Nalon didn't think there was more she could do. Alexis just needed to practice.

"Thanks, Nalon, and thanks for not laughing at me." This was far too serious in Alexis's eyes for that.

"Never!" Nalon hugged her and let go of her. "Now be ready for any number of things. First he might be your first so doesn't know what to do or does it badly. Another thing which is a good thing for you, is that he'll sit there, pull his cock out of his pants, and start stroking it. That will probably excite you and get your pheromones really moving and make him want you even more. Another is that he'll get up, pull your pants down and bend you over a table, and take you. That can be fun, too. But you also need to be ready that he might do nothing out of fear. You may have to get down on your knees, take out his cock and stroke it, and take it in your mouth. You might not even get fucked the first time especially if this is his first time. If that's what you really want you're going to have to do literally everything to get what you want," Nalon warned and then hugged her again.

"I want to hear everything after. …Well maybe not everything, but at least how it went. He's cute enough." Nalon didn't like him in that way. He was bald and she didn't just mean he had no hair on his head like her boyfriend and most Orion males. She meant he didn't have any piercings anywhere and that was what she liked about her boyfriend. The things he had attached to his head and body were part of what she liked most.

"Thanks Nalon." Alexis owed her for this.

"Happy to help my best friend." Nalon made her way to the bedroom door but stopped before opening it. "Oh, and go see the doctor first. Unless you want to end up pregnant after your first time." Nalon opened the door and found all the dogs on the other side, waiting for either of them to come out.

Nalon had to pet and kiss furry heads all the way out the door and make sure none of the dogs escaped without Alexis knowing.

Alexis found a mirror and started practicing. As she watched it reminded her of a combination of belly dancing and strip dancing like those porno movies she had watched with her friends. That got her to stop and feel sad. Her friends were either still alive, dead, or had an egg inside them or were possibly on their second egg. If the United States couldn't stop them.

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"Alexis? Is there something wrong?" A nurse had spotted her.

"I need to find out if there is a way to keep from getting pregnant unless I want to be." She was Orion now and didn't know all that much about her own new race.

"Come with me." She took Alexis over to a bed. "Hop up and let me get your vitals and then get the doctor."

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"So you want something to stop from getting pregnant. Short term or long term? Three months or a year? A year is the longest and typically the most requested." Doctor Drake said.

"One year, then. I'll be back before it expires to get another one." She didn't want to be pregnant and have a child anytime soon. Not for years yet. Maybe even not until she was 30 like her dad always threatened her.

"You heard her." Drake looked at the nurse. "Let's get you to lie back for me." He grabbed the curtain and yanked it around them to give them some privacy.

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Alexis felt fine and was happy she wasn't going to get pregnant now. But she'd also been warned not to have intercourse for 7 days to allow it to work properly.

Alexis was happy with that. It gave her a week to practice her seductive dance in front of Bialy.

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"KATE! Where are you?" Alexis had something she had to see.

"Conference room, naturally. I live here now." Where else would she be?

"GOOD! Meet me on the Portal floor immediately! …Please?" Alexis added the later a lot softer.

Kate left her stuff and went down the central stairs to the Portal floor. It reminded her that they had stopped searching for another planet since arriving here.

"KATE! Over here!" Alexis waved her hand so she would notice her.

"What's up?" Another thing Kate noticed that they were standing in front of the closet. Or at least that was what they were calling them even if they hadn't put anything in them yet.

"I found something. I mean I learned something. You gotta see this." Alexis pressed the panel that opened the closet door. Then she stepped inside and motioned for Kate to join her. Once Kate was inside Alexis closed the door behind them.

"It's a closet." It barely fit both of them and there wasn't anything in there.

"It's not a closet," Alexis informed her as she pressed a panel. Kate saw part of the wall open to display what looked like a map of the city. Except this map had blue dots all over it.

"You're going to love this. Pick one. Pick a blue spot and touch it. Just pick one. I've touched several already." Alexis, Kate saw, was bouncing on her feet just itching for her to touch one.

"Okay." Kate would amuse her by touching a blue dot. She touched one and saw the wall close up which was instantly followed by a blinding flash of white light that hurt her eyes. "OW!" Kate clapped her hands over her eyes.

"Sorry, forgot about that part. It'll go away in a minute." Then Alexis opened the door, went outside, and Kate followed her. Except what Kate didn't see was the Portal floor.

"What! What happened?" Kate spun in place to look the place over. It looked like the city so that was good. "Where are we?"

"We're where you pressed us to go," Alexis stated plainly. "It's not a closet. It's a… I don't know what it is. It's a transporter for lack of a better name. You step in, pick a spot, and it sends you there an instant later. I've been all over this city. Even places I'm not sure we've searched yet." Alexis's smile was so wide it was threatening to break her face.

"A what?" Kate had never heard the word before.

"Like this." Alexis opened the door and waited for Kate. Then she closed the door, opened the wall, and pressed a blue dot. "Shut your eyes." Kate saw the wall start to close and shut her eyes tightly.

Then Alexis opened the door and stepped out. Kate followed and instantly knew where they were now.

"That's the Power Core Room." Kate pointed at the huge double doors.

"It gets better. I found something down here after I came here using this method." Alexis walked over to a wall and pressed a panel. Kate watched a large section slide away and reveal a pair of doors just like the ones that led to the Power Room.

Then she saw Alexis press a series of panels. Suddenly those doors opened and a blast of really cold air came rushing in. Kate wrapped her arms around her body to try and keep warm. All Kate saw was water and snow and ice. Then the doors closed and a moment the inner doors as well. However, the space was still cold and so was Kate.

Kate spun between the two pairs of doors. It didn't take much to see that if you wanted to take something out of the Power Room and bring something back inside these were the doors to do just that. Now she also noticed that the corridor was equally wide and tall until she reached the Control Room door that was down the corridor.

"You get it now?" Alexis didn't think she had to explain it in detail at this point.

Kate's mouth was hanging open; she looked at the closet and even opened it to look inside. "This will instantly send up anyplace we want to go. So long as one of these is on the other end."

Alexis nodded enthusiastically. "No more using the stairs!" Alexis was sick and tired of going up and down the stairs from her room to where she was still working next to Nalon, Wells, and Marco.

Kate looked it over and then at the other doors. "Is it safe?" She didn't know what this thing had done to her.

"I've used it over a dozen times already and I feel fine. It's a transporter! This thing is sooo cool!" She had always dreamed of being beamed around like Kirk and Spock. But it was science fiction. Until now.

"We need to go back to searching this place. If they can do this with closets maybe we can use it to go somewhere else. Up to ships in orbit maybe. Other parts of the planet. …Say a shuttle crashes in the snow somewhere. We just use this thing to go get them. It's great! Just think what we could do with it." Alexis was still smiling wide and bouncing excitedly on her feet.

"I want you to go to the doctor and get looked at. I want to know if this thing has done something to you." Kate wasn't going to have this thing used until she knew it was safe for everyone.

"But I feel fine!" Alexis didn't see the need. Besides nothing bad happened using a transporter in Star Trek. …Well almost never.

"Alexis!?" Kate glared at her. If she had gone and used this thing and injured herself she was going to be furious with her.

"Fine!" Alexis dropped her head in disgust.

Kate put a finger under her chin and lifted her head back up. "I care about you. Your father loves you dearly. This city needs you. You took a big risk and I don't want you doing it again. Am I clear?" Kate would die if something happened to Alexis.

"Yeah." Alexis got it even if she didn't like it.

"Good! Now take the stairs to Medical. When the doctor clears you, you can go back to using this thing. This…transporter as you call it." Kate wrapped her arms around her.

"I love you, Alexis, and your father and I will die if something happens to you." There she had said it.

"Sorry." Alexis let Kate hold her until she let go of her.

"Plus your dogs would miss you terribly." Maybe that would get her to be more careful from now on. "Now go see the doctor and tell him what you've done. He needs to look you over." Kate let go of her and actually walked up the stairs with her until they each went their own way.

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Kate was back in her conference room when Rick came charging in all out of breath. "We have a real transporter!?" Rick so wanted to be beamed up or beamed anywhere.

"You stay away from that thing until the doctor clears Alexis." Kate pointed her finger at him. "RICK!" She almost never used his name and when she did it was because she was serious.

"But it's a transporter!" He just had to be allowed to use it.

"Richard!" Kate meant it and she saw him cave a little. "Stay out of that thing or I'll lock you up. Are you listening to me?" She was in charge and her mate needed to listen to her.

Rick groaned loudly as he plopped down and let his head rest on the table. "We have a transporter and I can't use it. …Kirk got to use it. Spock got to use it. But not me. This is so not fair."

"I didn't say you couldn't ever use it. I said you can't use it until the doctor clears Alexis after she used it without permission. For all I know her stomach is in her ass now." Maybe that would get him to listen.

Rick sat up at that. "Ouch!" He definitely didn't want that to happen. "Fine, but when Heuer clears her I'm using it. I'm going to beam myself all over the place." Rick was up and running toward Medical. Once Alexis was cleared he was going to get her to show him how to use it.

"And I made him my mate for life." Kate shook her head wondering for a moment if that had been a mistake. It wasn't and she knew it, but that didn't mean there were times when he made her question her choice. "And he wants to have kids." It was looking like one big one was enough already.


	28. Chapter 28

**RV Summer**

**Chapter 28**

_Epilogue_

_It is now one year later_

Kate was walking through 1 of the 6, 30 feet by 96 feet greenhouses. They all had plants in them producing food for them. She was impressed just how warm it was inside this one. Granted it was summer instead of the dead of winter, still it was rather cool outside. She saw Alexis's boyfriend and came up to him. "Bialy, this looks amazing. You and the others are doing good work here."

"This is much better than what we were doing on the ILLUSTRIA. I'm still amazed that you were able to produce what was needed to make these. All the metal and all the glass." He hadn't had to worry about that on the ILLUSTRIA.

"You can thank one of our search teams for that. Followed by still more people to make all this." Kate looked around and was still amazed. "Would you be surprised to find out that we're thinking about building more of these? We want to have more than we need in case 1 or more of these has a catastrophe and the cold outside destroys everything on the inside."

"I'm in. The more we have the better off we'll be." Bialy was ready to get started on the next one.

"Well I'm going to leave you to it. I have a boat launching to attend. We need to get some fish and other things caught before winter gets here and freezes everything." They needed meat and a lot of it.

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Kate found Alexis, Rick, Howler and others at the dock where the boat had been put together. It wasn't big as boats go but it was different looking for the Orions. They'd been talked into building an Earth based trawler. It had booms out each side with immense nets. They even had nets that would go out the back and rake the bottom to get the bottom feeders. The bridge was tiny and it had almost no living space. It wasn't meant to go too far away from the city so sleeping space wasn't needed. Fish storage, however, was.

Kate saw the color of the hull. "It's blue." She had listened to the description and she'd seen the sketches but this was totally different. "So what it this thing?" She saw something that was being built next to the boat that she didn't remember authorizing.

"Boat lift." Rick thought it was obvious. "When the water freezes and if the boat is still in the water it will probably crack the hull and then the boat will sink when the ice melts. So we want to lift it out of the water over winter. That and drain it of everything." They didn't need pipes bursting, the hull cracking open, or ice damaging anything else.

"Okay." It made sense to her. She just didn't know who had thought of it.

"The nets on the side catch fish closer to the surface while the back nets will catch fish or other sea life closer to or on the bottom. We should get several hundred pounds every week before it gets too cold." Rick told her what she already knew. "They go out, catch fish, and come back. Then they plug it in to recharge the batteries overnight and go out again the next day. Just repeat day after day. We'll have more than we know what to do with in no time."

Actually Kate was a little fearful of just that. However the walk-in in this city were numerous and massive. It was meant to hold close to a million people and they still hadn't come anywhere close to that number. Even with all the births of babies of late.

Actually all the babies had created an all new problem. Diapers and everything else babies needed. Who wasn't farming, fishing, cooking, making more greenhouses, doing maintenance or still searching where they still hadn't searched, they were stretched really thin. Plus the Control Deck needed to be fully manned everyday, all day.

Rick pointed out another benefit of having the boat lift and dry dock. "Plus if we ever have to fly this place again we'll have a place to store our ship for the next place. That way we don't lose it and have to build another one."

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Kate had watched their ship take off and had heard it had come back completely full. Even more people were unloading it as she stripped to get ready for bed and get some sleep.

She found a naked mate waiting for her in their bed. She eagerly climbed in and settled in next to him. "We're finally doing pretty well." They were growing food and catching food. They had figured out a number of things in this city. They even had a population that was growing. Plus they hadn't seen a sign of the Vree after getting here. It felt safe at last.

"After all this time I still can't believe that all those shuttles were armed and we missed it." Rick still didn't understand how they had all missed that. Each shuttle had four drones hidden away inside its body. You had to open a door, scan your target, transfer that to a drone, and fire it.

They had only done it twice since they hadn't wanted to use them up since they had no idea how to make more. But the asteroids had blown up nicely and spectacularly. Howler was still wondering just what to do with them now that they had fighters of a sort.

Kate smiled and she snuggled in. "Howler's happy. He's got his big gun and now he has his fighters even if they don't look like fighters." Things really were looking up.

"Can we talk about starting a family again?" Rick asked.

"We've talked about this. I fell in love with you partly because you're human. You turn yourself into an Orion you won't be the same person I fell in love with. And until you can get pregnant and carry the baby Alexis is all the children either of us need." It wasn't so much as having children, it was bearing the children and giving birth to said children. Besides, she wanted him to stay human. She loved her human mate and lover.

"Anyway, Alexis took it apart a little and scattered the parts all over the city and won't tell anyone where they are. Not even me. It won't even power up any longer." No working device meant he stayed a human and that meant no children.

"My own daughter." Rick was sure he had a knife in his back.

"Alexis loves you and she understands you." Kate knew he knew that already.

Rick pointed out a potential problem. "You both are going to end up with me being the very last human if you don't."

"You don't know that, and besides it'll take generations for the Vree to use up every human. Maybe if we're all lucky that won't happen." The Vree might find someone that can fight back and wipe them out. It might be a long shot, but so far there was no one that could.

Since he was still losing this argument he decided on what they he always won at. He placed a hand on one of her breasts and then squeezed the nipple until it was nice and hard. Since this caused him to have an erection it told him that she was using her pheromones on him again.

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Alexis was dressed in one of Bialy's shirts that was almost too big for her. She was still getting used to the fact that even wearing a shirt that was too big for her, her breasts were still straining at the buttons.

"Hi." He was sitting on the edge of the bed and watching her closely as she started to rock her hips and dance in front of him. Her mind wandered back to the very first time she'd dance for him.

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Alexis had practiced for weeks until she was sure she was ready. They'd gone out on another date and she was ready for the next step. She was dressed in what she thought was as sexy as she had that still covered her breasts. He was sitting on the edge of the bed still dressed when she came out barely dressed.

She danced in front of him and popped a couple of buttons. She was starting to worry whether he was even interested in her that way. They had done a fair amount of kissing and he had even placed his hands on her breasts, but that was as far as they had gotten.

Then she saw him rubbing himself through his pants. That was when she got her first idea that he might be big. She'd listened to Nalon and figured out that if anything was going to happen she was going to have to take charge.

"Take your cock out of your pants. I want to see you stroke it." He had done exactly as she had told him and soon she was dancing and swaying her hips, even cupping her breasts in her hands and presenting them to him.

She'd been right, though. He was a big boy. Seeing him doing that was getting her wet which also told her that she had to be sending out a vast amount of pheromones. She figured that out when she saw him speeding up as he stroked himself. Except she couldn't having him climaxing just yet. It was too soon.

She'd stopped dancing and gotten on her knees. She took his hand away and replaced it with one of her own. She started licking it and doing what she could to take it into her mouth. He quickly climaxed into her mouth and she swallowed all of it. Her pheromones kept him hard so she had pushed him onto his back and mounted him.

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Tonight was going much like their first time. She was dancing, he was stroking his cock, and she was soon on her knees with his cock in her mouth until he climaxed. Then she pushed him down onto the bed and mounted him. She was adapting to his size and was learning to love having him inside her. He even placed his hands on her breasts that she loved because she had such big breasts.

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Nalon saw Alexis show up for work. "You're smiling this morning." They didn't have an enemy ship to scan, but they'd learned that they could use the scanner to scan a large area around the city for a lot of things.

"Bialy must be pretty good." Nalon loved teasing her best friend. Alexis was spared for the moment when the dogs showed each other that they wanted to play and wouldn't try to hurt anyone. Now they were running all over the place and it sounded like they were trying to rip each other to pieces when they were just playing.

"Bialy is… He's really…" Alexis used her hands to try and show how big he was. "He's nice." Alexis settled for that.

"Should I be jealous?" Nalon was happy for her. "I have news. I asked Roy to be my mate and he said yes." Nalon began squealing since she was so happy.

Alexis clapped her hands over her mouth and was smiling wide behind them. "You asked…he said yes." Now Alexis was squealing and hugged her. Now there were two women hugging and dancing and squealing.

"I want your help selecting my tattoo. I want something that will impress him. Something that shows I want to be his mate." Nalon wanted her best friend's help.

"Gladly! We'll knock his sock off!" They couldn't fail.

"Just his socks?" Nalon teased and smiled wide.

"We knock off any more than that and your mating is going to be a lot more than just that," Alexis argued. That had Nalon laughing followed by Alexis. "My place tonight and bring Gino. We can start planning immediately."

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Kate was in her normal place in her seat in the conference room while Rick and others were outside working on clearing space for another greenhouse. Others were doing a lot of other things that she had to keep track of.

"Ma'am, we have a ship on the long range scanner." Kate moaned. Things just had to go bad. It was inevitable. She got up, moved to the scanner, and looked at it.

"It's in FTL and it's still about 2 days out but it doesn't appear to be headed for us. It doesn't look like it will even enter this system," Willian reported.

"Who is it?" Kate prayed he wouldn't say Vree.

"We don't know. The system doesn't recognize it. We do have a silhouette of it, though." That meant they didn't know who it was and this place didn't know who it was.

"Show me." Kate watched as the display changed. She saw the silhouette of the ship. "What is that thing?" She'd never seen anything like it. She tapped her communicator tag. "Howler, you're needed on the Control Deck immediately. We have an alien spaceship on the long range scanner."

It only took seconds thanks to Alexis's transporter room. She heard the sound of booted feet running in the hallway and then up the stairs.

"I've never seen anything like it before." Howler shook his head. "What are these? Horns, maybe." They looked big and they were vertical on the aft end of the ship. "Then there are these at the bow. Those look like weapons. Big ones!" He was impressed and worried.

"A big head, long body, horns at the end, and big weapons. Where's it going?" If it was toward them they might be in trouble.

"They're going through this system but on the outer edge. We're far away from them," Willian said.

"We need to man the weapon system and the scanner, just in case. I'll have Wells and Marco down there immediately. Have Alexis and Nalon report there as well. We may need to defend ourselves." Howler wasn't going to just lay down and die. He was going down fighting.

Suddenly the ship vanished. "They're gone! Where did they go?"

"Entered FTL, perhaps, and was instantly out of range," Willian suggested.

"FTL. That means they're advanced. So are they enemy or friend?" Howler wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Keep your eyes open. They may return if they spotted us. Keep the weapon system and shield manned continuously from now on. We need to be ready." It was a military matter and he knew it. Kate had no choice but to agree.

"Do we contact them next time?" Kate inquired.

Howler thought about it. "Only if we believe we've been found. We could use an ally, but we don't need another enemy. We just left one. Maybe we should go back to random dialing to find another planet. Maybe we'll get lucky finally." Their luck had to change eventually.

Kate made a quick decision since it was an easy one. "Commence dialing the Portal. Pick up where we left off. Pray we find a friend and not another enemy or at least a safe place if we need one."

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Kate was riding Rick and just approaching yet another orgasm when her communication tag started beeping at her, demanding her attention.

"Not now." Just a few more strokes. Kate screamed as her orgasm washed over her and she let herself collapse onto her mate. Damn, but sex with him was the best. She had known sex was pleasurable but never like this.

Regrettably her stupid communicator was still beeping at her. It was all she could do to roll over and touch it. "What!?" She was going to kill whoever it was.

"A ship has suddenly appeared directly over us. It came out of FTL and moved into a position directly over the tower and is just sitting there," Elio reported.

Her orgasm may have wiped her out but she suddenly sat up. "Have they said anything?" She would berate them for not paying attention later. Their scanner usually gave them 2 days notice. How in the name of all they held sacred had it made it all the way to just above them and no one noticed them approach?

"No, ma'am, they're just sitting there," Elio replied.

She knew all stations were presently manned. "Inform Howler, get our shuttles manned, and raise our shield. I'll be right there." Kate didn't want to. What she wanted to do was roll over and have Rick fuck her senseless. But they had a problem.

"Our aliens are back?" Rick wasn't as weak at the moment; he rolled out of bed and started getting dressed. He was going with her wherever she went.

"Perhaps. Let's find out." Kate tried to get her legs to respond. She stumbled out of bed and scrambled to find something to wear.

By the time she and Rick had made it to the Control Deck Howler was already there. "Anything?"

"Nothing. They're just sitting there. It's definitely the same ship as last time or at least its twin." In case they used the same design for all their ships.

Then someone alien looking just sort of shifted into being. It was the best way to describe it. It was a bad picture that suddenly became solid looking.

He said something none of them understood and then just stood there. He was clearly in a uniform of some kind and he had skin similar to Rick's. But that was where the resemblance ended. He had a thick beard, thick hair that looked like large worms or straws and they were bent all over the place. And he looked every bit as big as Rick.

Kate hoped for the best. "I don't understand you. Who are you?"

They watched him turn his head and look somewhere else. Then he spoke but not to them.

Rick stepped up behind Kate. "It looks like a projection, like in the movies. He's not really here."

That had Kate reaching out a hand to press the weapon Howler was holding on it down a little. "If he's right you'll just shoot one of us," Kate whispered. Howler hated it but lowered his weapon.

"I am Dex of Atteria. I command the ship Golden Gate. You are in space controlled by the Satedans. Why are you here?" He had never seen people like them before.

Kate took a step closer. "I am Katherine, I am the leader of this place. We fled our galaxy since it was being taken over by a race that call themselves the Vree. They control much of our galaxy. They breed by using us as incubators. They are wiping out all life as they go." Kate decided on the truth since it was easier to keep control over. A lie on top of another lie was difficult to keep track of.

"You are refugees," he stated but kept his poker face.

"We are not looking for your help with anything. We do not require any assistance from you, so we are not officially refugees. We are…," Kate looked around, "looking for a new home. We found this planet and decided to try and make it work for us."

That got him to raise an eyebrow. His ship, even if it was a ship of the line, was sitting on top of a city that was several times larger than he was. Did they really mean they had flown a city to this planet from another galaxy?

He had aids already telling him that they had put up a shield around their city that his weapons would have a tough time penetrating if at all. They had technology and it was advanced. Then he was told they had structures outside of the city.

"What race are you?" Maybe that would help him decide what to do.

"We call ourselves Orion," Kate answered. Only to have him turn his head toward Rick. "That is my mate. He is human."

Unfortunately that did not help him. Still they had shielding similar to his just horribly stronger than his. They had a drive that was capable of interstellar travel and they had the power to get here. If these Vree had forced them out then he needed to understand them since they might be a threat.

He made his offer. "I require information about these Vree. Everything you know. In exchange we will allow you to claim this system and remain."

That sounded promising to Kate. "Give us a minute." She turned away from him and whispered, "Comments? They have advanced technology. I'm thinking their FTL is advanced. They jumped to a space right above us without us noticing. You don't just drop out of FTL with that kind of accuracy unless you are advanced."

"He isn't shooting at us so that's good. If he's that advanced then he likely can sense our shield and maybe he's not powerful enough to get through it," Howler posited.

"We just told him the Vree were overpowering us and that's what he wants information on," Kate said.

"So would I if we found someone who was on the run and might be being chased. Did they just bring a powerful enemy to our door?" Howler added.

Rick decided to play devil's advocate. "What if he reneges on this deal? Take the information and shoots at us?"

It was simple for Howler. "We shoot back and run after we blow him up."

"We could use an ally if we can make him one." The voice of Alexis had them turning to find her up here instead of down where she was supposed to be.

Kate wanted to be angry at her for being here instead of there. It was just she had done so much for them already. "Do we try?" Kate asked.

"Do we want to be forever on the run? I still don't know just how much power we have, are capable of generating, or how long we can keep generating enough power to keep moving from planet to planet." Alexis didn't see a choice. "In the area of space he says they control if he isn't lying."

"I'm going to accept his offer. Any objections?" Kate looked at everyone and didn't see one.

Kate turned to him. "We accept your offer. We will begin transmitting as soon as we can gather all the information we have on the Vree."

For once his poker face left him. "Excellent! I will await your transmission. Once I have all the data, this system belongs to you." He thought he was getting a bargain since this system did not have much in it. The planet they were on was barely habitable. True they had not surveyed any of the planets as yet so he didn't know what it had in resources, but he doubted they held much value and this system was on the very edge of their space.

Kate and the others watched him slowly vanish like he was fading out. "Hologram technology! Nice." Alexis was impressed. "Especially when he can send it through our shield." Alexis points out.

Kate turned on Alexis. "What are you doing up here? You're supposed to be at your station!" She hated being angry at her but she couldn't just let her run around as she pleased, either.

"You didn't answer your communicator and I had something I wanted to say so I used the transporter. I'm going now." Alexis spun on her heel, walked toward the transporter, then entered it and vanished.

Kate sighed and shook her head. "I'll apologize to her later. For now we need to gather everything we have on the Vree and what they've done and transmit it. Then pray he keeps his word." The last thing she needed was a shooting match.

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Alexis was learning that if she wanted sex she had to initiate it. Bialy was really shy about a lot of things. Alexis exited the bathroom dressed to impress and found him sitting on the edge of the bed again, petting Hannah.

She did get his attention easily enough. She even danced her way closer to him. When she finally saw him take out his cock and start stroking it she knew she wanted him. That meant she was sending out her pheromones to make sure he stayed that way.

They'd had sex often enough by now that she thought she recognized when he had stroked his cock almost too long. So she stopped dancing and got down on her knees so she could try and take his cock in her mouth.

When she tasted his pre-cum she got up and pushed him back onto the bed; then she got on top and lowered herself down onto him. In just seconds she was lifting up as far as she could and dropping back down quickly, plunging him deep inside her.

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Unknown to either of them, Alexis was resting naked on top of her boyfriend while Kate was resting naked on top of her mate. Neither woman was going to get pregnant so sex was strictly for pleasure.

Kate groaned when her communicator began beeping at her. "Don't they know I'm making love to my mate." She didn't want to answer the cursed thing.

"Maybe a do not disturb sign on our door would help." Rick wasn't any happier since he was thinking of flipping them and fucking her.

"This is Kate." What was it this time?

"We have a ship on the long range scanner. It is a match for that Satedan ship from last time. They're 4 days out at this sped and headed right for us," Willian reported.

What Kate wanted to do was blow up at them. They couldn't have waited even 1 hour to tell her a ship was 4 days out? "Inform Howler and we'll be ready." Kate ended it.

"Now where were we?" Kate asked since she wasn't needed anywhere else at the moment.

"I believe we were right here." Rick flipped her onto her back and had Kate squealing and then moaning in pleasure as he plunged his cock deep inside her in 1 swift stroke.

It only took a couple of minutes. "YES! FUCK ME!"

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All of her pheromones had finally made Bialy bold and he had flipped her onto her back, grabbed her legs and pushed them toward her head and slammed his cock deep inside her.

It only took a minute and Alexis wanted more. "Yes! Fuck me! Harder…faster." It had her pumping out a vast amount of her pheromones to keep him hard and deep inside her.

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"Captain Dex, what can we help you with?" Their hopefully new friend had shown up and instead of sitting right on top of them like last time, he was in a high orbit that would take him directly over them on each orbit.

"I have brought someone with me. Her mission is to try and establish a trade of items between us. Her mission is to find something that will benefit both of us at a price we can agree on. She wants to invite you to our ship for the first round. You may bring an armed escort if it will make you feel better. We will have a small one of our own. We will send a shuttle that will fit our bay."

That was better than Kate had hoped for. Talking was enough for her but trade was even better.

"Give us 1 hour and we will contact you." Kate killed the communication. "Have Howler, Heuer, and Alexis meet me in the conference room. We need to discuss this."

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"What did they want?" Howler was glad they weren't sitting right on them demanding things.

"They want to establish a trade. They've offered a shuttle to take us to their ship. We have 1 hour to decide who goes, what we're willing to offer, and what we need," Kate advised.

However, before anyone could say anything Patrick showed up at the doors that Kate had left open. "We dialed a Portal to somewhere!" He was excited. It was their first here and it was unexpected.

"We got…" Kate's mouth dropped open. It should have been impossible was what she'd been thinking. This was a different galaxy so how was that possible?

"Assemble a team and send them through as soon as possible," Kate told Howler. "We'll talk when you get back."

Howler left to gather his team while the rest of them sat there waiting for him.

For Kate things were finally looking up. The city was working perfectly. They had food. They were growing it and fishing for food. She had a mate and life was really good. Now they possibly had a future ally and were about to start a trade with them. They even had their own system provided their new friends didn't renege on the deal. In addition they possibly had a planet they could retreat to if they had to.

It was a far cry from when she had accepted this mission when the Vree had shown up and started destroying their home planet. They had a future.

Kate was even willing to talk to Rick again about letting him turn himself into an Orion so they could have a family. Having kids running around was a gift and as leader she had to make sure they had a future. She still wasn't happy about being pregnant, but she was also trying to listen to what her parents would say if they were here. Though the Doctor had said something about needing to make adjustments for them to have a baby the natural way. They still had to investigate that part. Maybe Rick didn't need to be an Orion for them to have children.

If, and that was still a big if, she and Rick did have children her parents and his mother were never going to get to see them all thanks to the Vree. Maybe someday they would pay for that, but first they had work to do.


End file.
